LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock spotted Arkansas State a 5-1 lead in the eighth and rallied back to within one on a pair of occasions, but the Trojans left the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, falling to the Red Wolves 6-5 at Gary Hogan Field.
Little Rock falls to 16-14 on the year and 6-7 in Sun Belt play, seeing its five-game conference winning streak come to an end.
Runs were hard to come by through the first half of the game as solid pitching had the teams scoreless through four.
Hayden Arnold had another strong start for Little Rock, allowing just three hits through the first five innings while striking out six, upping his career total to 276 and moving into second place in program history.
Little Rock got on the board in the fifth as
Tyler Williams led off the inning with an infield single, then advanced to second with his 16th stolen base of the season. A
Jack Stroth single advanced Williams to third, who would score off a sacrifice bunt from
Jorden Hussein, putting the Trojans on top 1-0 after five.
But late innings continued to haunt the Trojans as Little Rock gave up one in the sixth, three in the seventh and another in the eighth, finding itself trailing 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Little Rock began a rally in the eighth, starting with a leadoff walk to
Jake Wright and a double to right center from
Noah Dickerson, giving the Trojans a pair in scoring position. An RBI ground out from
Canyon McWilliams scored Wright, cutting the lead to 5-2. With two outs, Williams singled to right center after a nine-pitch at-bat, scoring Dickerson to make it 5-3.
Stroth would draw a five-pitch walk, putting two runners on for
Miguel Soto, who sent an RBI single to left, scoring Williams and pulling the Trojans to within one at 5-4 after eight.
But Arkansas State would respond with a run in the top of the ninth, putting the first three batters on base and leaving a pair on with no outs for reliever
Chance Vaught. The sophomore would do his job, striking out the first two batters he faced and inducing a ground out, keeping the damage at a minimum at 6-4.
Little Rock mounted one final rally attempt with two outs in the ninth, getting down to its final strike on a pair of occasions. Dickerson sent an 0-2 pitch through the left side, then McWilliams nearly tied the game with a long shot to right center, hitting just under the top of the fence for an RBI double as Dickerson scored from first. But McWilliams was stranded at second as the Red Wolves induced a game-ending pop-up for their first Sun Belt win of the season.
Dickerson had a big night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and a double, while McWilliams, Williams and Soto each had a pair of hits, accounting for 10 of Little Rock's 11 hits on the evening. McWilliams drove in two while Williams had an RBI and scored twice.
Arnold took the loss after being responsible for the first four Red Wolves runs, including the three in the seventh.
Sawyer Smallwood pitched 1.2 innings and allowed a run on four hits while
Hoss Brewer gave up a pair of hits and a walk to the three batters he faced. Vaught picked up the perfect ninth inning for the Trojans with a pair of strikeouts.
Little Rock and Arkansas State will play game two of the series Friday afternoon with
Erik McKnight scheduled to get the start for the Trojans. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field.
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