LITTLE ROCK – Thanks to a four-run sixth, Little Rock bounced back for a 7-4 win over App State Saturday evening at Gary Hogan Field, evening the weekend series. The win snaps the Trojans' five-game skid, improving to 11-9 on the year and 1-4 in Sun Belt play.
Little Rock finished with nine hits on the night as all but one Trojan in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
Jack Stroth went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double and a pair of runs scored as
Nathan Lyons,
Jorden Hussein and
Noah Dickerson each had doubles as well for Little Rock. Dickerson,
Canyon McWilliams and
Miguel Soto each had a pair of RBI as well to pace the Trojans.
After the 14-inning marathon the night before, App State jumped out to the early lead, registering a single and a hit by pitch off Little Rock starter
Hoss Brewer in the first, plating the game's first run off a RBI groundout in the first.
But Brewer found his touch, striking out two each in the second and third to keep the deficit at one. Little Rock answered in the bottom of the third behind a leadoff double from Stroth, driven in off an RBI single from Soto one batter later to tie the game at 1-1. Hussein's double put runners at second and third with a sacrifice fly from Lyons bringing Soto home, giving the Trojans the 2-1 lead.
An RB single in the top of the fourth for App evened the game at 2-2, bringing back memories from the night before. But Little Rock broke the tie in the home half of the inning as three-straight singles from Williams,
Christian Bernabe and Stroth loaded the bases with one out. A deep sacrifice fly from Soto brought Williams home to give Little Rock the 3-2 lead.
Brewer would register two outs in the top of the fifth, but surrender back-to-back hits and a walk, allowing App State to load the bases. Reliever
Chance Vaught came in and induced a ground out, getting the Trojans out of the jam.
The Trojans had another opportunity in the bottom of the fifth as a double by Lyons and Dickerson and McWilliams were both hit by pitches, loading the bases with one out. But a pop up and a strikeout prevented the Trojans from extending the lead.
Little Rock would take advantage in the sixth, however, as walks to Stroth,
Aidan Garrett and Hussein loaded the bases with just one out. After a strikeout for the second out, Little Rock came up big with a two-RBI double from Dickerson to score Garrett and Stroth.
McWilliams then singled to left, allowing Dickerson and Hussein to score before he was thrown out at second trying to extend the play. But four runs crossed the plate for the Trojans, extending their lead to 7-2 after six.
App State would answer in the seventh, using a double and a walk to put two runners on with no outs and bringing
Joey Martin out of the bullpen for the Trojans. An RBI single for the Mountaineers and a sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 7-4, but Martin used a strikeout to get Little Rock out of the inning.
Martin then took control over the final three innings, striking out the side in the eighth and retiring the Mountaineers in the ninth with his fifth strikeout, earning the three inning save to preserve the win for Little Rock.
Vaught was credited with the win after relieving Brewer with two outs in the fifth as Brewer went 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Vaught allowed two runs on one hit over 1.1 innings to set up Martin as the Trojan pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts on the night.
The win evens the series with App State with the rubber match set for Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
Erik McKnight is slated to get the start for Little Rock with first pitch coming at 12 p.m.
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