ATLANTA – For the second-straight game, Little Rock held a lead on Georgia State and the game was tied after four innings, but late runs by the Panthers proved to be the difference in a 7-4 Trojan loss Saturday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The loss drops Little Rock to 10-7 on the year and 0-2 in Sun Belt play as Georgia State hit five solo home runs off Trojan pitching to take the victory.
Starter
Hoss Brewer came out on fire to start the game, striking out the side in the first and registering five strikeouts against the first six batters he faced. Little Rock's offense then gave him some support in the top of the third as an RBI triple from
Eldrige Figueroa scored
Christian Bernabe from second, then Figueroa was brought home on a fly out from
Tyler Williams, giving the Trojans the 2-0 lead.
Brewer struck out the first batter of the third, giving him six strikeouts against seven batters faced, but Georgia State hit a solo home run, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1 after three.
Little Rock pushed its lead back to two in the top of the fourth as back-to-back singles from
Noah Dickerson and
Nathan Lyons put two runners on for Bernabe, who drove Dickerson home with an RBI single through the left side. But the Panthers responded with a pair of solo home runs in the home half of the fourth, tying the game at 3-3 after four.
The Trojans had a prime opportunity in the fifth as a
Canyon McWilliams registered a double to left field, Dickerson was intentionally walked and Lyons was hit by a pitch, all with two outs to load the bases. But a fly out ended the threat, leaving all three Trojans stranded.
Georgia State got its fourth hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth off reliever
Sawyer Smallwood, and it was the same as the previous four – a solo home run to left. The Panthers added another in the bottom of the sixth scoring an unearned run, but a nice defensive play from Soto gunning down another potential run from left kept the score at 5-3.
Little Rock answered with a run of its own in the top of the seventh, getting a pair on off back-to-back walks for McWilliams and Dickerson before Lyons ripped an opposite field single to score McWilliams from second, making the score 5-4. But the inning would end on an unconventional double play as Soto grounded out to the third baseman and Dickerson was ruled out for going out of the base path to elude the tag.
The Panthers led off the bottom of the seventh with their fifth solo home run of the game, then scored another off a bases loaded wild pitch to extend its lead to 7-4. The Trojans were unable to generate any offense late, going hitless over the final 2.1 innings.
Lyons had the top day at the plate for the Trojans, going 3-for-3 with an RBI while Bernabe was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored as the duo were both hit by pitches. Dickerson, McWilliams and Figueroa had the other three hits for the Trojans on the day with Figueroa and Williams tallying an RBI each.
Brewer pitched four innings and took the no decision, striking out seven and giving up three runs on three hits, all of which were solo home runs.
Sawyer Smallwood took the loss, giving up a solo home run in the fifth which put the Panthers on top for good.
Jacob Weatherley,
Joey Martin and
Austin Smith pitched the final three innings for the Trojans with Martin and Smith holding the Panthers to no hits over the final 1.2 innings as Martin nothed a pair of strikeouts.
Little Rock will now try to salvage the final game of the series Sunday afternoon as
Erik McKnight will head to the mound for the Trojans. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex.
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