Pittman's Late-Game Heroics Lift Trojans over ORU

LITTLE ROCK- Riley Pittman's late-game heroics, a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth, lifted the Trojans over Summit League opponent Oral Roberts in their 6-5 win, Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field.
 
"Early on, we shot ourselves in the foot," said Head Coach Chris Curry. "We were down by five in the third inning of a mid-week game, a lot of clubs would have shut it down…but not this club. Everyone is going to talk about Riley Pittman and I want to congratulate him on being the career leader in home runs, but what an awesome job by our bullpen throwing eight scoreless innings. Those guys did an unbelievable job."
 
Little Rock improves to 22-25 overall (13-10 Sun Belt) while Oral Roberts falls to 23-21 (14-10 Summit League).
 
Pittman was the top performer in the contest, going 3-for-4 with a clutch home run to seal the victory. Ryan Benavidez put together a solid day at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Christian Reyes, James Gann, Troy Alexander, Ramon Padilla and Eldrige Figueroa each tallied a hit in the game as well.
 
Zach Ours was magnificent out of the bullpen for Little Rock, throwing 3.1 innings in relief without allowing a run, facing just one batter over the minimum in his outing. The senior did not allow a hit and struck out three in his fifth win of the season.
 
The Trojans struggled on the defensive end in the first inning of the game, as an error led to Oral Roberts' first run.
 
A four-run third inning gave the visitors a 5-0 lead early in the contest.
 
Little Rock would respond, however, with a two-run shot from Benavidez, scoring Reyes, to close the gap to 5-2. This was Benavidez's eighth home run of the season. Alexander would continue the comeback, as his base hit to right field plated Pittman to make it 5-3.
 
Both teams would see their bats go quiet for the next two frames, but Padilla would step to the plate in the sixth inning and drive a ball over the centerfielder's head to bring Garrett Scott around to score. Figueroa tied the game with a timely single up the middle, scoring Padilla from second base.
 
For the next three frames, the score would remain 5-5 as Ours cruised on the mound.
 
Pittman was the first batter in the bottom of the tenth. In a 2-1 count, Little Rock's all-time leader in home runs launched a no-doubt walk-off homer to right field to end the game. This was Pittman's 12^th home run of the season and the 25^th of his career.
 
The Trojans get back to Sun Belt Conference action with their final home series of the season, starting May 10. First pitch with the Bobcats is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field
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