LITTLE ROCK – A career-high five RBI from
John Michael Russ helped Little Rock rally from a 3-0 deficit and score seven unanswered in a 7-3 win over South Alabama at Gary Hogan Field Friday evening. The win snaps the Trojans' five-game losing skid as Little Rock improves to 13-13 on the year and 4-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Russ finished the game 2-for-4, coming to the plate twice with the bases loaded and taking advantage of the opportunity. He drilled a three-RBI triple in the sixth, then scored off an ensuing fielding error to give the Trojans the 5-3 lead, then singled through the left side in the seventh to bring in two more and push the advantage to 7-3.
The five RBI for Russ is one off the single-game high for the season, held by
Kobe Barnum and
Nathan Lyons, and is the fourth multi-RBI game for Russ, including his third in the last four games.
The clutch hits sparked the Little Rock offense, which finished with seven hits on the night as Lyons, Barnum,
Tyler Williams,
Kenny Rodriguez and
Miguel Soto joined Russ in the hit column. Barnum added a double and drove in a run while Lyons scored twice, both off the Russ hits.
In what began as a typical Friday night pitchers dual, Little Rock's
Hayden Arnold and South Alabama's Jeremy Lee both were on their game early as neither team recorded a hit until the solo home run by the Jaguars' Michael Sandle with one gone in the fourth put South Alabama on top 1-0.
The Jaguars would add two more in the fifth off a pair of doubles, taking the 3-0 lead into the home half of the fifth. That is when the Trojan rally began with a two-out single by Soto, followed by the double from Barnum to cut the deficit to 3-1.
In the sixth is when Little Rock started to find their rhythm against the Jaguar starter, opening the inning with a single from Lyons, a walk to Hussein and a single from Williams, loading the bases for Russ who drove an 0-1 pitch to the wall in right center. Slick conditions caused the Jaguar outfielder to slip on the attempt, allowing Russ to advance to third for the triple. The relay throw from short was errant and went out of play, allowing Russ to advance the final 90 feet and give the Trojans the 5-3 lead.
That would be plenty of run support for the Trojans' one-two punch of
Hayden Arnold and
Aaron Barkley. Arnold earned the win on the night after going 6.1 innings and allowing just three runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Barkley would relieve him with one out in the seventh and pick up the save, allowing just one Jaguar hit over the final 2.2 innings.
Barkley would get a pair of insurance runs in the seventh as once again, the Trojans loaded the bases behind back-to-back hit-by-pitches on
Eldrige Figueroa and Lyons. A sacrifice bunt by Hussein advanced the runner before Williams was gifted an intentional walk, loading the bases for Russ for the second time in as many innings. He took advantage once again, singling through the left side to bring Figueroa and Lyons home, upping the score to 7-3.
South Alabama finished with just five hits on the night and rarely threatened, leaving just two runners on base all evening. Part of that was aided by a pair of double plays by the Trojans, upping their Sun Belt-leading count to 24.
Game two of the series between Little Rock and South Alabama is scheduled for Saturday night at Gary Hogan Field.
Aaron Funk will get the start for the Trojans with a 6:00 first pitch.
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