Trojans Take Series at No. 22 Salukis With 11-5 Sunday Victory

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Little Rock continued to make a statement Sunday afternoon, scoring seven runs over the final three innings to defeat 22nd-ranked Southern Illinois 11-5 for the second-straight day at Itchy Jones Stadium to complete the series victory.
 
It is the first series loss of the season for the Salukis as Little Rock improves to 11-8 on the year, winners in six of its last seven. Southern Illinois fell to 19-3 on the year as the Trojans notch their first series win over a ranked team since defeating Coastal Carolina in 2019.
 
The Trojan bats continued its offensive explosion, scoring 11 runs on 13 hits in Sunday's series finale. For the weekend, Little Rock scored 29 runs against the Southern Illinois pitching staff, tallying 37 hits and hitting .349 while limiting the Salukis, who entered the weekend third nationally in batting average, to just a .260 average.
 
Little Rock's offensive attack was led by Eldrige Figueroa, who went 4-for-5 in the nine-hole of the Trojan batting order, notching a double and triple to finish a home run shy of the cycle with three runs scored.
 
Figueroa was followed in the batting order by Nathan Lyons, who also had a monster day going 2-for-4 with a career-best six RBI, scoring a pair of runs with a home run. Miguel Soto also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.
 
Six of the remaining seven batters for Little Rock each finished with one hit against the Saluki pitching staff with RBI from Jorden Hussein, Noah Dickerson and Kobe Barnum. Kenny Rodriguez was 1-for-2 from the plate, but drew three walks for Little Rock, resulting in a pair of runs scored.
 
Southern Illinois responded with the first run of the game, taking advantage of a walk with an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead in the second. The lead didn't last long, however, as in the top of the third, Figueroa led off with a single, followed three pitches later by Lyons' two-run home run, putting the Trojans on top 2-1.
 
The Salukis responded with a run in the bottom of the third, evening the game at 2-2. Little Rock would reclaim the lead in the fourth, beginning with a leadoff double from Dickerson, promptly followed by an RBI single from Soto to bring him home and give the Trojans the 3-2 lead.
 
Little Rock would add another in the fifth, loading the bases with one out behind a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. A sacrifice fly from Dickerson brought Lyons home after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. A solo home run by the Salukis in the home half trimmed Little Rock's lead to 4-3.
 
Southern Illinois' biggest threat came in the sixth, beginning with a leadoff home run to tie the game at 4-4. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for the Salukis with no outs, bringing Aaron Barkley into the game in a tough situation. But he limited the damage to just one run, getting SIU to ground into a double play, scoring a run, then getting a ground out to third to end the sixth trailing 5-4.
 
Figueroa's hot bat continued into the seventh, getting a leadoff triple on a 3-1 count. Lyons would ground out to the third baseman, but it was enough to bring Figueroa home to tie the game at 5-5 – the sixth tie of the weekend between the two teams.
 
Barkley would work around a double in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the final two Saluki batters, setting the stage for the eighth when the Trojans would take the lead for good. Rodriguez drew a two-out walk, which sparked another strong series of events that included a Figueroa double to put a pair of runners in scoring position, followed by a clutch two RBI single to left from Lyons, bringing the pair home to up the lead to 7-5.
 
Barkley retired the side in the eighth with two more strikeouts, taking the Trojans into the ninth with the 7-5 lead. On Saturday, the Trojans scored six runs in the ninth to seal the win, and on Sunday it was another key inning, plating four runs to secure the series win. Barkley notched his fifth win of the year, going the final 4.0 innings and allowing just two hits with no walks and five strikeouts on 55 pitches. Starter Jack DeCooman had his longest outing of the year, going 5.0 innings and allowing five runs on five hits, earning the no decision.
 
Little Rock batted around the order in the ninth, getting singles from Williams, John Michael Russ, Soto and Figueroa to bring two runs home and upping the lead to 9-5. With the bases loaded, Lyons drew a two-out walk on a 3-2 count, bringing Soto home, then Hussein did the same in the next at-bat, giving Little Rock the 11-5 cushion it would need to shut down the Salukis in the home half of the ninth.
 
The series win is the first for Little Rock over a ranked opponent since taking a pair from 24th-ranked Coastal Carolina in a weather-shortened series on April 12-14, 2019. It is the third series win for the Trojans this season, and second on the road.
 
Little Rock now begins a six-game slate of in-state foes, beginning Tuesday when UA-Pine Bluff heads to Gary Hogan Field for a 3 p.m. first pitch. The Trojans then head to Jonesboro for a three game Sun Belt series against rival Arkansas State, followed by a trip to Fayetteville for a pair of games against Arkansas on April 6 and 7.
 
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