LITTLE ROCK – Trailing by four heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, Little Rock continued to show its never-say-die attitude, scoring five and capping the comeback with a two-run walk-off home run by
Kenny Rodriguez to take the 9-8 win over South Alabama Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
The walk-off shot completes the three-game sweep over South Alabama as Little Rock improves to 15-13 on the year and 6-3 in Sun Belt Conference play, one game out of first in the West Division. It was the ninth-straight home win for the Trojans and the first series sweep against the Jaguars in program history.
Little Rock had to rally in all three games against the Jaguars, using big innings in each game of the series. The Trojans scored four in the sixth in game one, en route to the 7-3 win, then tallied four in the fifth Saturday to win 4-2.
Trailing 8-4 and down to its final two outs, Little Rock began the rally with a one-out double to right from
Eldrige Figueroa, followed by a single to short from
Nathan Lyons and a walk from
Jorden Hussein to load the bases. A clutch single through the left side by
Tyler Williams scored both Figueroa and Lyons, narrowing the deficit to 8-6 with two on and one out.
A wild pitch advanced Williams to second, giving the Trojans a pair of runners in scoring position. After a strikeout gave Little Rock two outs, another wild pitch allowed Hussein to score and advanced Williams to third, putting the score at 8-7 for
Kenny Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has proven to be clutch in key moments all year, and came through again, sending a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right center for a two-run walk-off and completing the ninth inning rally for the Trojans.
It was a gutsy win coming off a gutsy performance all day for Little Rock, which now sits one game back of Louisiana for first place in the Sun Belt's West Division. The Trojans also improve to 15-2 on the season in games in which they've held a lead at any point of the game.
But it didn't look like that would be the case early as South Alabama jumped on starter
Sawyer Smallwood in the first, getting runners at the corners with just one out. But Little Rock was able to limit the damage to just one run.
The Trojans responded in the bottom of the third, getting two runners in scoring position with no outs courtesy of a
Kobe Barnum walk and a Figueroa double. A wild pitch would score Barnum from third, giving some foreshadowing to the big final inning. A groundout from Lyons would score Figueroa from third, giving Little Rock the 2-1 lead.
The Trojans added another run in the fourth, beginning with a leadoff walk from
John Michael Russ and a double from Rodriguez, allowing him to score from first and push the Little Rock lead to 3-1.
It would stay that way until the fifth when a two-run home run for South Alabama tied the game at 3-3, then the Jaguars poured on with four runs in the seventh, building a 4-3 lead on the Trojans. Little Rock got one back in the bottom of the eighth as a one-out single from Rodriguez scored Hussein from second, pulling Little Rock to within three at 7-4.
South Alabama would answer in the top of the ninth, getting the bases loaded with no outs due to a hit-by-pitch, walk and intentional walk, bringing
Calvin Hunt into the game. He notched a pair of big strikeouts, hitting 97 on the radar gun multiple times with one 99 mph pitch, but conceded an eight-pitch walk to allow the Jaguars to up its lead to 8-4, setting up the big final inning for Little Rock.
Rodriguez' four RBI paced Little Rock on the day as he went 3-for-5 on the day as the Trojans out-hit the Jaguars 11-6. Figueroa also had a three-hit day, going 3-for 4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while Williams went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Hussein was 0-for-3, but drew a pair of walks and scored both times he was on the base paths.
Little Rock used six different pitchers on the afternoon with Hunt getting his first collegiate win, pitching 1.0 innings and allowing no hits with two strikeouts.
Jacob Weatherley had a productive outing for the Trojans, giving Little Rock 4.1 innings and allowing just two hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts.
Erik McKnight was also key out of the bullpen, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing one run on no hits.
The Trojans have now won nine of their last 11 Sun Belt Conference series, dating back to the 2019 season, upping their home field winning streak to nine games. It also marked the 22nd inning this season Little Rock had scored three-or-more runs and is the Trojans' second walk-off home run of the season.
Little Rock now continues a tough stretch of the season where they will play 13 of 17 away from Gary Hogan Field, beginning a five-game road trip Tuesday in Conway against Central Arkansas. Opening pitch against the Bears is scheduled for 6 p.m., leading into a weekend series at ULM.
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