Early Offense Leads Little Rock to Opening Day Victory

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Trojans won on opening day for the third time in four seasons on Friday. Little Rock was able to jump on the Jackrabbits early and hold on for an eventual 9-6 win.
 
Newcomer Skyler Trevino jump-started the offense with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. The Whitehouse, Texas native took the 2-1 offering and crushed it over the right field fence, bringing home Tyler Williams and Luke Pectol in the process to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
 
From there the Trojans didn't look back, after a 1-2-3 top of the second from starter Jackson Wells Little Rock went back on the attack. Taking advantage of Jackrabbit miscues to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second. After Nico Baumbach worked a walk to score a run, junior Noah Brewer roped a double into left field to score two more runs. Trevino would then ground out to second base, bringing home another run, and Brewer would score on a wild pitch two batters later. By the time the Trojans were finished they had a commanding 8-1 lead through the first two innings.
 
South Dakota State would strike back in the top of the third with a solo homerun by Ryan McDonald to cut the deficit to six, but Wells kept his composure and struck out the side in the inning.
 
Both offenses quieted briefly as the teams settled in before a grand slam by the Jackrabbits in the top of the fifth brought them to within two runs.
 
Senior Austin Stubber came in out of the bullpen in the sixth and was able to stifle a potential South Dakota State rally when he snagged a line drive back up the middle before flipping the ball to second base to turn an inning ending double play. He then threw a perfect seventh inning, facing the minimum, before handing the ball over the Jacob Weatherley to close out the final two innings.
 
Little Rock would add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Seguine led off the inning by working a walk and then advanced on two balls in play before Baumbach shot a single into right field with two outs to bring home the Trojan shortstop.
 
Weatherley would cap the game off with a 1-2-3 ninth inning which included two groundouts and a looking strikeout to end the battle.
 
Stubber was credited with the win, his first as a Trojan, for his efforts in the middle innings. He faced just seven batters in his two innings of work, allowing only one hit and zero runs.
 
Weatherley received the save and also pitched two innings for Little Rock, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
 
Wells was impressive in his Trojan debut. The sophomore transfer from UA Rich Mountain completed four innings of work, giving up just one earned run on three hits while striking out seven Jackrabbit hitters.
 
Trevino led the way for the offense, going 1-for-3 with four RBI including the first runs for the Trojans in the 2023 season. His first inning homer was the first time that the Trojans have had a homerun on opening day since 2019.
 
Baumbach was the sole Trojan to collect multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-4 at the plate while bringing in two RBI of his own and scoring once.
 
Brewer collected two RBI in his 1-for-5 performance with his double in the second inning. He would also go on to score a run for the Trojans in that same inning.
 
Pectol, Seguine and Williams all scored twice in today's game. The trio reached base seven times in their combined 11 plate apparances.
 
The Trojans are back in action tomorrow when they will attempt to secure a series win. First pitch will be at 2 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field with Preston Davis scheduled to get the start for Little Rock.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Baseball, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockBSB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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