LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock raced out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, then held off a late Georgia Southern rally to take a 7-6 win over the Eagles to even the weekend series at Gary Hogan Field. The win snaps a four-game skid for the Trojans as Little Rock improves to 22-23 on the year and 10-15 in Sun Belt play.
Little Rock jumped on Georgia Southern early in the bottom of the first, courtesy of a two-run
Canyon McWilliams home run to left center, scoring
Eldrige Figueroa who led off the inning with a double down the right field line.
The Trojans extended the lead in the third with a solo home run from
Noah Dickerson which was belted over the scoreboard in right center, traveling 425 feet to push the lead to 3-0. A one-out single from
Miguel Soto and a two-out walk to
Nathan Lyons put two on for Little Rock, leading up to
Jorden Hussein's two-RBI double that ricocheted off the left field wall, pushing the Trojan lead to 5-0.
Starter
Hoss Brewer was efficient through the first three innings, retiring nine of the first 10 Georgia Southern batters he faced with the one base runner coming courtesy of a one-out walk in the third. The Eagles found their batting touch in the fourth, however, scoring four runs on six hits, including three doubles, to close the gap to 5-4 and ending Brewer's day.
That brought
Michael Quevedo out of the bullpen and he continued his stellar play in the month of May, allowing just two hits over the next 3.1 innings and allowing the Trojans to add to their lead. Little Rock got a run back in the bottom of the fourth behind a one-out single from
Tyler Williams, advancing to third on a single from Dickerson and scoring off a passed ball to up the lead to 6-4.
Williams then led off the sixth with a double to center, scoring on a
Canyon McWilliams RBI ground out to give the Trojans the 7-4 lead.
Quevedo ran into a bit of trouble in the eight after giving up a leadoff single, but registering a fly out and a strikeout to put the Eagles down to their final out of the inning. Georgia Southern would connect on a two-run home run to left center that just cleared the wall, trimming the gap to 7-6, but Quevedo ended the inning with a strikeout to preserve the lead.
A leadoff single for Georgia Southern in the ninth ended Quevedo's day and brought
Sawyer Smallwood on to try and register the save, and he did what he was suppose to, inducing a sacrifice bunt and a pair of fly outs to solidify the win for Little Rock.
Quevedo earned his second win of the season after going 4.1 innings and allowing just the two runs on five hit with a pair of strikeouts as Smallwood picked up his fourth save of the season after retiring all three Eagles he faced. Brewer earned the no decision after going 3.2 innings and giving up four runs on five hits with a strikeout.
At the plate, Williams and Dickerson both had a pair of hits for the Trojans as Williams went 2-for-5 with a double and three runs scored while Dickerson was 2-for-4 with the RBI and run scored. McWilliams drove in three runs on the afternoon, going 1-for-3, with Hussein adding a pair of RBI off the double in the third, going 1-for-3.
Little Rock will now try for the series win Sunday as it looks to solidify its place in the Sun Belt Tournament in Montgomery.
Jacob Weatherley is slated to get the start at 1 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field with the Trojans' graduating seniors and those exhausting eligibility being recognized at 12:40 p.m. prior to first pitch.
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