LITTLE ROCK- The Trojans suffered a heartbreaking 5-3 loss in 12 innings to Louisiana Tech tonight at Gary Hogan Field. Some defensive mishaps in the twelfth brought two Bulldog runners around to score and give the visitors the edge.
"In my five years at Little Rock, this was as proud of a team as I ever have been," said Head Coach
Chris Curry. "The performance that
Donavin Buck gave is literally one of the best performances I've seen on a Little Rock mound. The heart that those guys just played with, the unselfishness against a potential top-25 team, they come out and they fight with that much heart, it's why I love these guys."
Aaron Funk earned the start for Little Rock and threw 5.1 innings, allowing only two runs on five hits.
Donavin Buck was masterful in his 3 1/3 innings of work, punching out six Louisiana Tech batters and only surrendering three hits, but was charged with the tough-luck loss after the Trojans fell victim to errors in the last inning.
Christian Reyes led the way with a great performance at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Chase Coker also had two hits on the night for his third multi-hit game of the year.
The Bulldogs struck first with a run in the first inning, but Little Rock replied in the third inning with a
Chase Coker RBI single to score
Christian Reyes.
Funk settled in on the mound and rattled off four consecutive scoreless innings before handing the ball off to
Nick Perez in the sixth. However, Louisiana Tech pushed a run across in the sixth and another in the seventh to take a 3-1 lead.
Riley Pittman started the comeback in the bottom half of the seventh with a triple down the right field line to start the Trojan rally. Reyes plated Pittman with a solid single to center field to cut the deficit to one.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Little Rock got back to work in the ninth with only three outs to play with. With two outs, Reyes slapped a single to right field.
Ryan Benavidez drew a walk before
Garrett Scott got the big hit to send the game to extra innings with a double to left field, scoring Reyes.
Buck toed the rubber in the ninth inning and was brilliant for three innings. However, disaster struck in the twelfth when two Trojan errors on the same play brought two Bulldogs to the plate. Louisiana Tech held on to their 5-3 in the bottom half of the inning to steal a late victory from the hosts.
The Trojans get back to action Friday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m. when they head to Natchitoches, La. to take on Northwestern State.
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