MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Little Rock senior
Cole Evans fanned a career-high eight batters in four innings of work as Little Rock wrapped up Sun Belt Conference Tournament play Thursday with a 6-2 loss to South Alabama at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.
The impressive performance in four innings of work came during a stretch where he retired eight of nine batters in a stretch that included six strikeouts. His only blip was allowing a solo home run to South Alabama's Santi Montiel, a shot that proved to be the difference maker during a 2-2 game in the fifth inning. As a result, Evans (1-3) would be charged with the loss.
That would be Montiel's second solo home run of the day, the first of which occurred in the third inning
The Trojans concluded their season with Thursday's game. South Alabama (31-20), which had already clinched advancement through pool play, moves on to the semifinals starting Saturday. Noah Michael (5-0) was credited with the win after allowing one hit and striking out one in one inning on the mound as part of a staff day for the Jaguar pitching staff.
Nathan Lyons led the Trojans offense with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. He wowed fans early in the game with a diving catch in foul territory to start the game, with the ball on that play coming off the bat of Montiel.
Little Rock took a 2-0 lead in the first with back-to-back RBIs by
Miguel Soto and
Tyler Williams. But the Trojans would not be able to score after that, stranding six runners on base throughout the game.
South Alabama initially scored with a Cameron Tissue RBI single in the second before Montiel's first home run tied the game. His second shot gave the Jaguars the advantage and then USA added a run in the eight and a pair of runs in the ninth.
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