Trojan Bats Stay Hot in 9-7 Win Over Mavericks

ARLINGTON, Texas- Another great offensive performance from Little Rock as well as a gritty pitching performance from Dillon Delgadillo down the stretch gave the Trojans a 9-7 win over UT Arlington to claim game two of the three-game set.
 
Ryan Benavidez and Ramon Padilla each tallied two-hit nights at the plate to lead the Little Rock offense. For the second straight game, every starting Trojan recorded a hit in the contest as the team's bats continued to impress.
 
Little Rock started game two in exactly the same fashion as game one, scoring their first run on a Riley Pittman walk that scored Christian Reyes. Using hits from Benavidez, Nick Perez and Chase Coker, the Trojans would rally for a five-run first inning to give Hayden Arnold a large cushion before he began his outing.
 
UT Arlington's starting pitcher Ka'ikepono Anderson struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning, issuing three walks before getting pulled after just recording two outs on the day.
 
The Mavericks pushed a run across in their first turn at the plate but Little Rock would respond with a Troy Alexander single to score Benavidez to get the run back and make the score 6-1.
 
The hosts made the score 6-4 by putting up a three-spot in the bottom of the third to stay within striking distance. Donavin Buck entered the ballgame in the third and managed to throw three scoreless innings to halt the Maverick bats.
 
In the sixth inning, the Trojans scored twice using a sacrifice fly from Padilla and a walk from Coker. UT Arlington answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to just one run, but Pittman doubled home Scott in the following inning to make the score 9-7 in the seventh.
 
Dillon Delgadillo entered the game in the sixth inning and was stellar in his relief appearance. The junior tossed three and 1/3 innings of perfect baseball while striking out two Mavericks to pick up his first save of the season.
 
With this win, Little Rock has clinched the series victory and will go for the sweep tomorrow at 12 p.m., an adjusted start time due to possible rain in the Arlington area.
 
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