CONWAY – Little Rock took the early 2-0 lead, but four Central Arkansas runs and missed opportunities came back to nip the Trojans, dropping a 4-2 decision at Bear Stadium Tuesday evening. The two teams split the pair of games on the year in the Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Governor's I-40 Showdown as Little Rock falls to 15-14 on the year.
The Trojans were able to get eight hits on the night, compared to just five for the Bears, but six walks from the Little Rock pitching staff aided the Central Arkansas rally.
Noah Dickerson brought the hot bat for the Trojans, going 3-for-4 with a run scored while
John Michael Russ was 2-for-4 with a run scored as well.
Nathan Lyons,
Jorden Hussein and
Tyler Williams were the only other Trojans to tally a hit on the night.
Little Rock got on the board first with a pair of runs in the second, getting the bases loaded with one out off a singles from Russ and Dickerson and a walk to Soto. Barnum drove in the first run off a sacrifice fly to deep right center, allowing Russ to score, then a double steal attempt by Soto was able to get the Bears to bite, allowing Dickerson to score to make it 2-0 after two.
The Trojans were unable to get any offense going following the second as Central Arkansas retired 11-straight Little Rock batters, but the Trojan defense kept the Bears off the scoreboard.
That changed in the fifth when Central Arkansas scored three runs, burning through four Trojan pitchers in the process. The damage could have been worse, but
Sawyer Smallwood was able to get Little Rock out of a bases loaded jam to end the fifth.
Little Rock had an opportunity to cut into the lead in the sixth, getting back-to-back one out hits from Hussein and Williams as the duo was in scoring position, but UCA was able to get a strikeout and a fly out to end the Trojan threat.
The Trojans left another runner in scoring position in the seventh, and those would prove critical as the Bears added a solo home run in the seventh to push the lead to 4-2.
Missed opportunities continued to plague the Trojans in the late innings as Little Rock left a runner in scoring position in each of the final four innings, but couldn't get the key hit it needed to cut into the Central Arkansas lead.
Little Rock ran through eight different pitchers on the night with starter
Luke Wallner having a very solid performance, retiring all nine batters he saw through the first three innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Dillon Delgadillo pitched an inning and allowed just one hit while
Sawyer Smallwood struck out a pair with no hits in 1.1 innings.
Aaron Barkley came on to pitch the final 1.1 innings and threw just 16 pitches, retiring all four batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts.
The Trojans continue their five-game road swing in Monroe, Louisiana this weekend, facing ULM in a three game series. Game one against the Warhawks is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday evening at Warhawk Field.
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