Trojans Outlast Lions, Mother Nature To Take Series Opener, 5-1

LITTLE ROCK -Little Rock raced out to an early lead, then held off strong North Alabama pitching as well as a nearly 23-hour weather delay to notch a 5-1 victory in the series opener against the Lions at Gary Hogan Field.
 
Starting at 1 p.m. Friday afternoon under sunny but chilly skies, Little Rock got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, getting its first baserunner of the game after Nathan Lyons was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Jake Wright came through again with his second inside-the-park homerun, sending a shot off the wall in left center allowing Lyons to score easily. Wright held up coming around third, but seeing an opportunity to take home he did so, sliding wide of the tag at home to put the Trojans up 2-0.
 
After starter Hayden Arnold sent the Lions down in order in the third, including a pair of strikeouts, Little Rock extended the lead, beginning with a leadoff single from Jorden Hussein, who advanced to third following a sacrifice bunt from Eldrige Figueroa and a steal.
 
A Canyon McWilliams two-out walk put runners at the corners for Noah Dickerson, who brought them both home with a two-RBI double to right. A walk to Lyons put two runners on for Miguel Soto, who sent a shot down the left field line to allow Dickerson to score from second and give the Trojans the 5-0 lead after three.
 
North Alabama would respond with a run in the fourth, using a hit-by-pitch and back-to-back singles to put two runners on with nobody out. The baserunners would advance to second and third off a double steal, but back-to-back lineouts to McWlliams, followed by a groundout to Figueroa ended the Lion threat.
 
That was all the cushion Arnold would need as those three outs to end the fourth were part of 13-straight North Alabama batters retired before the Lions reached by way of a fielding error with one out in the eighth. As the snow began to fall heavily, Arnold induced a fielders choice, then Joey Martin came out of the bullpen to retire the Lions on two pitches with a ground out to second.
 
With heavy snow falling and accumulating, the game was suspended at 3:21 p.m., resuming Saturday at 1:59 p.m. thanks to stellar work from the Trojan baseball staff to clear four inches of snow off the Gary Hogan Field surface.
 
Little Rock would go down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and Martin would come back to finish the top of the ninth, working around a walk and a single to retire the Lions and secure the victory for Arnold, his third of the season.
 
Arnold's final tally was 7.2 innings pitched, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and no walks, throwing 105 pitches, a season-high. Martin would pitch the final 1.1 innings and allow just one hit with a strikeout and a walk, throwing 19 pitches.
 
Offensively, the Trojans managed just six hits on a chilly day at Gary Hogan Field, two of which came from Dickerson as he drove in the pair of runs while scoring once. Wright had a pair of RBI on his home run, going 1-for 3, with Lyons, Soto and Tyler Williams adding the other three hits for the Trojans. Soto and Hussein each added a stolen base as well for Little Rock, bringing its season total to 28.
 
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