LITTLE ROCK – After spotting UT Arlington a 3-0 lead in the second, Little Rock chipped away at the Maverick lead and tied the game in the seventh, setting up a
Tyler Williams RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to score
Noah Dickerson and give the Trojans the 4-3 walk-off win at Gary Hogan Field.
The win improves Little Rock's win streak to four games as the Trojans now sit at 5-6 in Sun Belt play and 15-12 overall. The Trojans improve to 13-6 at home this season as head coach
Chris Curry notched his 100th victory at Gary Hogan Field, sitting at 100-77 since taking over the program.
UT Arlington came out aggressive in the first two innings, getting a pair on in the first courtesy to a pair of leadoff walks before a Trojan double play got them out of the jam. In the second, UT Arlington opened the frame with back-to-back singles, followed by a three-run home run to put the Mavericks on top 3-0 and end starter
Erik McKnight's day after just one complete inning.
Jacob Weatherley came out of the bullpen and took control on the mound, going the next 7.0 innings and allowing no runs on just five hits with five strikeouts and four walks on 82 pitches. Weatherley retired the final nine Maverick batters he faced, and 14 of the last 16, keeping the Trojans in the game.
Little Rock started to chip away at the lead in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs behind singles from
Canyon McWilliams and
Jack Stroth and an eight-pitch walk from
Miguel Soto.
Jake Wright was then hit by a pitch, bringing McWilliams home to make it 1-0, before a force out at third ended the threat.
The Trojans got two more back in the seventh as
Noah Dickerson posted a two-out double down the right field line, then scored one batter later when McWilliams beat out an infield hit to first and the relay to home was late, trimming the lead to 3-2.
A wild pitch advanced McWilliams to second, and he came the rest of the way home off an RBI single from
Nathan Lyons to right field, evening the game at 3-3 after seven.
After seven strong innings from Weatherley,
Sawyer Smallwood came on in the ninth for his second appearance in as many days and was effective once again, but faced a tough situation after a pair of Trojan fielding errors allowed a pair of Maverick runners on with just one out. But Smallwood struck out the final two batters he faced, setting the stage for the dramatic ninth inning.
Dickerson and McWilliams had back-to-back one-out hits, putting runners at first and second. After a long fly out had Little Rock down to its final out, Williams sent a hard shot to the right side, forcing the UTA second baseman to have to dive to make a stop as the ball deflected a few feet away. That proved to be the time that Dickerson needed as he scored from second, beating the relay thrown home to give the Trojans the walk-off win.
Smallwood earned the victory, improving to 3-3 on the season, as Weatherley took the seven-inning no decision.
At the plate, the duo of Dickerson and McWilliams both went 3-for-5 on the day as the duo scored all four runs for Little Rock on the afternoon. McWilliams, Lyons, Williams and Wright tallied the four RBI on the day for the Trojans with Dickerson and Williams adding to their double totals on the year, logging one each.
Little Rock will look for the series sweep Sunday afternoon, taking on the Mavericks in the series finale.
Hoss Brewer is slated to get the start for the Trojans with opening pitch set for 1 pm. at Gary Hogan Field.
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