FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Little Rock raced to an early lead, putting six runs on the scoreboard through the first three innings against second-ranked Arkansas, the Razorbacks rallied in the late innings to hand the Trojans a 16-8 loss at Baum-Walker Stadium Tuesday evening.
The Trojans scored eight runs on 12 hits, including the first six runs of the game. But 14 unanswered by the Razorbacks from the fifth through eighth innings proved to be the difference as Little Rock falls to 11-11 on the season.
After struggling with timely hits all weekend against App State, the Trojan bats came awake early against Arkansas, beginning with leadoff walks to
Jorden Hussein and
Nathan Lyons in the first.
Noah Dickerson then sent a shot through the right side, scoring Hussein and giving the Trojans the 1-0 lead, followed by
Miguel Soto with an RBI single through the left side to score Lyons and give the Trojans the 2-0 lead.
With two runners on,
Jake Wright then sent a shot deep to left, one-hopping the wall for a two RBI double to score both Dickerson and Soto and give the Trojans the 4-0 lead, chasing Razorback starter Mark Adamiak after just two outs in the first.
Arkansas threatened with two runners on in the bottom of the first, but a lineout double play ended the threat. Little Rock then responded with a leadoff single from
Eldrige Figueroa in the second, followed by a single from Hussein that was misplayed by the centerfielder, allowing Figueroa to score and make it 5-0 and Hussein advance to third. But that was all the damage the Trojans could do as Hussein was thrown out at home trying to score off a grounder.
After a scoreless second, Little Rock struck again in the third, beginning with a two-out double to the gap in left center from Wright, his second of the game.
Aidan Garrett then sent a 3-2 pitch down the right field line, dropping in for a base hit and allowing Wright to score from second, upping the lead to 6-0.
Little Rock looked like it would get out of the third unscathed, but back-to-back two-out, two-strike hits for Arkansas led to a pair of runs, trimming the deficit to 6-2 after three.
After both teams went down in order in the fourth, Little Rock got a run back in the top of the fifth when McWilliams sent a solo home run to the opposite part of the park, landing his third of the year in the Trojan bullpen to push Little Rock's lead back to five at 7-2.
But Arkansas responded with a big inning in the fifth, beginning with a solo home run that led to five runs and tying the game at 7-7. The Trojans had a chance to get out of the inning with minimal damage, but a potential double play grounder developed slow enough to allow the Razorbacks to reach ahead of the throws, extending the inning.
Late inning runs continued to haunt the Trojans as Arkansas would score four runs on four hits and benefitting from a pair of Little Rock errors, taking the lead for the first time at 11-7 after six.
The Trojans kept the Razorbacks off the board in the seventh, thanks to a diving play in left from Soto for the final out of the inning, and threatened one last time in the top of the eighth, getting Wright to third and Figueroa to second with one out off a walk, single and wild pitch, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the Little Rock threat.
Arkansas would extend its lead in the eighth, using a three-run and a two-run home run to push the lead to 16-7 as the Razorbacks outscored the Trojans 14-0 from the bottom of the fifth inning on. Little Rock showed some fight in the ninth, beginning with
Andrew Pickering getting a double for his first career hit, then driven in off an RBI double from Soto, but the deficit was too great as Little Rock falls 16-8.
Wright, Soto and Figueroa each had a pair of hits on the night for Little Rock with Wright and Soto each driving in a pair of runs. Wright had a pair of doubles while Soto had an RBI double of his own, joined by Pickering's double in the ninth. Four other Trojans had one hit with Dickerson, McWilliams and Garrett each tallying an RBI on the night.
On the mound, Little Rock used seven different pitchers as starter
Jacob Weatherley went 4.1 innings, earning the no decision after tallying four strikeouts.
Preston Davis had a strong outing for the Trojans, going 2.0 innings and allowing no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
Matthew Davis was credited with the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the sixth.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, but storms are expected throughout the day in Northwest Arkansas. Stay tuned to LRTrojans.com and
@LittleRockBSB on Twitter for the latest in any schedule updates.
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