Little Rock Pitching Shines on Gloomy Day at Gary Hogan Field

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – With on and off rain throughout the course of the game, the Trojan pitchers were able to maintain focus and limit Grambling to just one hit in Saturday's contest. The win clinches the series victory with the chance for a sweep on Sunday and improves Little Rocks record to 8-4 on the season.
 
Little Rock got into a bit of hot water to start the game as a Tigers baserunner was able to reach third base with less than two outs, but a strikeout and popup ended the inning with no damage done on the scoreboard.
 
The Trojans then made a threat of their own, loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first but were unable to push a run across. After a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts from starter Jackson Wells in the top of the second the offense got to work.
 
Ryan Lee led off the second Trojan offensive chance with a double down the left field line, which was followed by a single from Ty Rhoades to put runners on the corners with no outs. Back to back doubles from Luke Pectol and Tyler Williams scored Lee and Rhoades and by the end of the inning Little Rock had a 2-0 lead.
 
Little Rock doubled the lead in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with no outs before a single from Rhoades scored both Skyler Trevino and Noah Brewer. Wells faced the minimum in the third and fourth innings and retired the first two batters in the top of the fifth before a looping hit into shallow right field gave Grambling their only knock on the afternoon.
 
Wells was relieved by Noah Burkey after back to back walks to begin the sixth inning. Burkey was able to escape the jam with strikeouts of the first two hitters followed by a groundout to short, ending the danger.
 
Williams added an insurance run in the leadoff spot of the sixth inning, hammering a ball out to deep center that hit off the padding and left Grambling outfielders scrambling to get the ball in. By the time they did Williams had already rounded the bases for his first homerun of the season and put Little Rock up 5-0.
 
Burkey got three straight ground balls for outs in the seventh before being relieved by Jacob Weatherley to start the eighth. The Jonesboro, Arkansas native struck out the side in order in his first inning of work.
 
The Trojans added one more run in the ninth on a bases loaded wild pitch that scored Williams before Weatherley headed back out to the mound to finish off the Tigers. He would strike out two and get a fly ball to center in the inning to end the game and complete the combined shutout.
 
Wells had yet another solid start for Little Rock, pitching five full innings and not giving up a run on just one hit with five strikeouts.
 
Burkey got the Trojans out of a tough situation in the sixth and ended his outing with two innings pitched giving up no runs and no hits and striking out two.
 
Weatherley dominated in his two innings of work, striking out five of his six outs and not allowing a hit along the way. No Grambling hitters reached base once Little Rock went to the bullpen as 12 straight batters were retired to end the game.
 
Williams led the Trojans in hits on the day with a 3-for-5 performance that saw him drive in two runs as well as score twice. He also stole a base in the game.
 
Rhoades had his fourth multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-3 with two singles which brought in two runs, he also scored once.
 
Brewer was the third Trojan with multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-5 while also scoring a run.
 
The Trojans will be back in action on Sunday in the series finale against Grambling with a chance to sweep the weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field with Preston Davis slated 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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