ATLANTA – Little Rock and Georgia State went back-and-forth Sunday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex, but as was the story of the weekend, the Panthers scored 10 runs over the final five innings to hold off the Trojans 12-8 in the series finale.
The loss drops Little Rock to 10-8 on the year and 0-3 in Sun Belt play, extending the Trojans' losing skid to four games.
The Panthers struck first in the bottom of the first, using an RBI single to grab the early 1-0 lead. Little Rock responded quickly in the top of the second as
Tyler Williams led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. That put him in prime position to score off an RBI groundout from
Miguel Soto, tying the game at 1-1.
Georgia State answered with a run in the bottom of the second to reclaim the lead at 2-1, a score that would last until the top of the fourth as the third inning was the only one on the day in which neither team scored. A leadoff walk from
Noah Dickerson put one on for
Canyon McWilliams, who belted his second home run of the season to give Little Rock the 3-2 lead.
But as it would all afternoon, the Panthers answered with three runs in the home half of the fourth, then added two more in the fifth off a two-run home run to extend its lead to 7-3.
Little Rock found its offense in the sixth, beginning with three-straight singles from
Nathan Lyons, Dickerson and McWilliams to lead off the inning, loading the bases for Williams. The Atlanta native came through with a two-RBI single to right center, bringing Lyons and Dickerson home to make it 7-5.
Christian Bernabe followed that up with an RBI double donw the left field line, scoring McWilliams and pulling the Trojans to within one at 7-6. A wild pitch scored Williams from third, tying the game at 7-7 and advancing to Bernabe to third, who would score on a wild pitch as well, giving Little Rock the 8-7 lead.
But Georgia State once again answered with back-to-back home runs in the home half of the sixth to reclaim the lead at 10-8, then added a run each in the seventh and eighth to pull away for the 12-8 win and secure the series sweep to open conference play.
Little Rock finished with 12 hits on the day, led by a 3-for-4 day for Williams with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Lyons, McWilliams and Bernabe each went 2-for-4 on the afternoon with McWilliams getting the pair of RBI off the home run. McWilliams and Dickerson each scored a pair of runs for Little Rock.
The Trojans used eight different pitchers on the afternoon as starter
Erik McKnight went 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits with six strikeouts.
Jacob Weatherley,
Reese Lansville and
Joey Martin each recorded 1.0 innings of work with
Chance Vaught credited with the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the sixth in 0.2 innings of work.
Little Rock now returns home for another key Sun Belt series, welcoming App State to Gary Hogan Field for the final time. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday, March 25.
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