OXFORD, Miss. – Little Rock closed out its five-game road swing with a strong showing against 12th-ranked Ole Miss, but three big innings for the Rebels was the difference as the Trojans fall 11-6 Tuesday evening at Swayze Field.
The Rebels scored three in both the first and second innings, then four in the seventh after the Trojans has whittled the lead to two after five. The loss drops Little Rock to 16-17 on the year and 5-17 all-time against Ole Miss.
Nathan Lyons come out swinging from the opening pitch, getting a leadoff triple to start the game for the Trojans with an opposite field shot down the line. But Little Rock couldn't bring him around to score, and Ole Miss capitalized with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Little Rock responded in the second as
John Michael Russ and
Kobe Barnum each drew walks, setting the table for
Christian Bernabe to rip a two RBI double down the left field line in his first career start, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The Rebels added three more in the second before
Cole Evans was able to calm the offense to strike out the side, leaving the bases loaded and trailing 6-2. That lead got cut in half in the third behind a single from
Eldrige Figueroa and a double to left from
Kenny Rodriguez, getting the lead down to 6-3.
After another Ole Miss run in the fourth, Little Rock continued to fight in the fifth. Back-to-back two-out singles by
John Michael Russ and
Tim Dixon gave the Trojans two on for Barnum, who belted a double to the gap in left center and scored both, trimming the Little Rock deficit to 7-5.
Both teams' pitching kept each other in check until the bottom of the seventh when Ole Miss tallied four runs to build an 11-5 lead. Little Rock had a great opportunity to cut into the deficit in the eighth, loading the bases with one out. Figueroa drew a four pitch walk, bringing Barnum home to make it 11-6, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the Trojan threat.
Eight different Trojans registered hits on the night, led by Lyons' 2-for-5 with the triple. Rodriguez, Barnum and Bernabe all added doubles for Little Rock as four of the Trojans' hits were for extra bases. Russ and Barnum also tallied a pair of runs.
Eight different pitchers also saw action for Little Rock with starter
Chance Vaught credited with the loss after allowing the first three runs.
Cole Evans,
Dillon Delgadillo and
Cal Beardsley all pitched 2.0 innings on the night as the staff tallied a season-high 17 strikeouts, led by five from Evans, four from Degadillo and three each from Beardsley and
Matthew Davis.
Little Rock now returns home for a big weekend series at Gary Hogan Field, welcoming Louisiana to Little Rock. The Trojans and Cajuns sit in a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt West Division and will play a three-game series, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
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