OXFORD, Miss. – Little Rock hung around with 18th-ranked Ole Miss through six and a half innings, but a four-run second and a four-run seventh did in the Trojans, who drop a 9-4 decision at Swayze Field Wednesday afternoon.
The Trojans were able to pound out 11 hits against the Rebels, but the Ole Miss pitching staff once again confounded Little Rock hitters all evening, combining for 19 strikeouts for the second-straight outing against Little Rock.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two, courtesy of a four-run second off five hits. Little Rock would answer in the top of the third, beginning with a leadoff double from
Miguel Soto, followed immediately by an RBI single from
Jorden Hussein. Singles from
Nathan Lyons and
Eldrige Figueroa would load the bases for Little Rock with nobody out, but a pair of strikeouts and a fly out ended the Trojan threat.
Little Rock would respond once again in the fifth, getting two runners on with no outs behind a leadoff walk from Figueroa and a single from
Tyler Williams. A sacrifice bunt from
Noah Dickerson advanced them to second and third, setting the table for
John Michael Russ to rip a two-RBI double down the left field line to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Ole Miss would respond with a run in the home half of the fifth, then used a four-run seventh, including a three-run home run, to break out to the 9-3 lead. The Trojans tried to mount a final rally attempt in the eighth, beginning with a leadoff double from
Jake Wright, brought home off an RBI single from
Kobe Barnum to cut the disadvantage to 9-4. But that was as close as Little Rock could get, falling to the Rebels by the same score.
Soto had the hot bat for Little Rock on the afternoon, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Figueroa was 2-for-4 on the day as well as eight of the nine batters for the Trojans registered at least one hit, including the two-RBI double from Russ. But all nine were strikeout victims at least once against the Rebel pitchers.
Little Rock used seven pitchers in the afternoon tilt with starter
Luke Wallner credited with the loss after giving up two runs in 1.1 innings pitched, allowing four hits.
Dillon Delgadillo had the longest outing of the day, going 2.0 innings and allowing just one run (unearned) on three hits, facing 11 batters and throwing 33 pitchers.
The Trojans close out a long road stretch of seven-straight away from Gary Hogan and 17-of-23 since April 1. Little Rock returns home for the final time this season, hosting Appalachian State in a weekend series, getting underway at 6 p.m. Friday, May 14.
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