LITTLE ROCK – Trailing by six heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, a furious Little Rock rally brought the winning run to the plate, but the comeback attempt fell short as the Trojans drop an 8-6 decision to South Dakota State at Gary Hogan Field in the final tilt of the four game series.
Down 8-2,
Josh Nowak drew a five-pitch walk, followed by a single from
Troy Alexander and a seven-pitch walk to
James Gann to load the bases. Following a pop-up,
Chase Coker began the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left, bringing Nowak home to cut the lead to 8-3.
Christian Reyes then singled up the middle to bring home Alexander, leading to a
Ryan Benavidez walk to once again load the bases with two outs. The lead was cut to 8-4 when
Garrett Scott was hit by a pitch, bringing Gann home, with a Jackrabbit wild pitch scoring Reyes and advancing both Scott and Benavidez into scoring position, setting the stage for
Riley Pittman as the potential winning run.
But Pittman just missed a pitch on the outside, sending an arching shot down the left field line, which was caught in foul territory by a diving Jackrabbit to end the threat.
The Trojans fell behind early off an unearned run in the first for South Dakota State, then gave up two more in both the fourth and sixth to fall behind 5-0. Benavidez got the Trojans on the board with his fifth home run of the season – a two run shot that just left the park down the right field line, making the score 5-2 South Dakota State.
South Dakota State added three more in the seventh to push its lead to 8-2, setting up the dramatic ninth inning.
Reyes was the top performer at the plate for Little Rock, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Four different Trojans recorded a hit on the day with Scott and Coker adding RBIs to go along with the two for Benavidez off his home run.
Six different Trojans took turns on the mound with starter
Eli Sievert getting tagged with the loss, allowing one run in 1.1 innings of work. The Little Rock staff combined for six strikeouts but allowed nine Jackrabbit walks, helping aid in the early deficit.
Little Rock returns to action Tuesday when it makes the short drive up to Conway to face Central Arkansas in the first of three games against the Bears in the Governor's I-40 Showdown. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday evening at Bear Stadium.
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