Trojans Snatch Big Win, Split Doubleheader

LITTLE ROCK- The Trojans were able to make use of some clear weather after some big storms in the Little Rock area to grab a 10-3 win in their doubleheader against the visiting Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, Saturday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
 
Riley Pittman was on fire at the plate, going 3-for-7 with two home runs, four RBI and four runs scored in the two games. James Gann had an impressive game at the plate in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 with a home run.
 
Getting the ball in game one was Jose Torres, who put together a very good start for the hosts. The right hander tossed seven innings, allowing only two earned runs while fanning seven Jackrabbit hitters. Unfortunately, Torres would take the no-decision in his outing.
 
Pablo Ortiz, Zach Ours and McKinley Moore were fantastic on the mound in game two of the doubleheader. Ortiz toed the rubber to start the contest and gave four strong innings on the mound and only surrendered one run. Ours took the ball in the fifth inning and threw one and 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball before handing the ball off to Moore who showed his brilliance with three and 1/3 innings of no-hit ball to earn the save.
 
Game One
 
The Trojans struck first in game one, after a Garrett Scott single brought home Ryan Benavidez to get the home team on the board.
 
South Dakota State tacked on two runs in the third inning to take the lead, but Little Rock would respond in the bottom half of the inning to even the score at 2-2.
 
A solo shot from Pittman gave the Trojans the lead in the sixth inning, but a six-run eighth inning from the visitors would ultimately give the Jackrabbits the edge in the first game, despite a ninth-inning home run from Benavidez.
 
Game Two
 
After surrendering the first run of the ball game, the Trojans took a lead they would not give up when Pittman and Gann each homered in the bottom half of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Benavidez continued his hot streak at the plate with a base hit to score Eldridge Figueroa in the third inning. Christian Reyes kept the hit parade going in the fourth inning with an infield single to bring home Gann and make the score 4-1 in favor of the maroon and silver.
 
The visitors scored twice in the fifth to cut their deficit to just one run, but a Chase Coker bunt single plated Pittman to extend the Trojan advantage to 5-3.
 
Little Rock put the game away in the eighth inning by bringing five runners around to score and take a 10-3 lead. Benavidez smacked a double to left-center to score Josh Nowak before Troy Alexander beat out an infield single to drive in Benavidez. Nathan Lyons would then score on a wild pitch before Gann produced a two-RBI single that brought Alexander and Pittman to the plate.
 
Moore came on to pitch the final three and 1/3 to slam the door on the Jackrabbits and seal the second victory of the series for the hosts.
 
The Trojans will be back at Gary Hogan Field tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the series finale.
 
#LittleRocksTeam