CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Little Rock battled reigning Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri State in both games of a Saturday doubleheader, but ultimately the Trojans dropped a pair of one-run, late-inning decisions to the Redhawks. Little Rock fell 4-3 in game one, followed by a 6-5 10th-inning defeat in the late game.
GAME ONE – Southeast Missouri 4, Little Rock 3
Trailing 4-1 heading into the ninth inning, Little Rock responded with a pair of runs, belting four-straight hits with two outs in the ninth and leaving the tying run in scoring position in a 4-3 defeat to SEMO in game one.
After a pair of ground outs, a single from
Ty Rhoades and a double from
Ryan Lee game the Trojans runners at the corners. A
Luke Pectol RBI single scored Rhoades, cutting the deficit to 4-2, before an RBI single from
Christian Bernabe cut the gap to 4-3 with Pectol sitting at second. But a game-ending fielders choice ended the threat and snapped Little Rock's winning streak.
Southeast Missouri struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, countered with a one-out triple from
Tyler Williams in the top of the sixth, brought home by a sacrifice fly from
Noah Brewer to cut the gap to 2-1. But the Redhawks would score one in both the sixth and seventh innings, setting up the dramatic ninth.
Williams and
Alex Seguine each had a pair of hits in game one with the hits from Rhoades, Lee, Pectol and Bernabe rounding out the eight in the game for Little Rock. But three defensive errors came back to plague the Trojans as just one of the Redhawks' four runs were earned on the afternoon.
Jackson Wells earned the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits with four strikeouts through 5.1 innings pitched. The duo of
Jacob Weatherley and
Lukas Frers combined to hold SEMO to just three hits and one unearned run over the final 2.2 innings with Frers notching three strikeouts.
GAME TWO – Southeast Missouri 6, Little Rock 5 (10 innings)
Trailing 5-3 heading into the ninth inning, Little Rock once again staged a furious late-inning rally, tying the game at 5-5 and sending game two into extra innings. But a walk-off two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning for Southeast Missouri gave the Redhawks another dramatic win in the Saturday doubleheader.
Rhodes began the ninth with a one-out triple to right center, followed by a six-pitch walk to
Ryan Lee to give Little Rock runners at the corners. Pectol came up big with another RBI single, scoring Rhodes and advancing pinch runner
Aidan Garrett to third with one out. A Bernabe sacrifice bunt was enough to bring Garrett home, tying the game at 5-5 with two outs, but Pectol once again was stranded in scoring position at second as the Redhawks tallied a strikeout to end the threat.
After three scoreless innings to start the game, Little Rock jumped out to the 3-0 lead after five, aided by a Williams solo home run to start the fourth. Nico Baumach followed it up with a double down the left field line, but he was stranded there after three-straight outs.
In the fifth, back-to-back one-out singles from Pectol and Bernabe put two on for Little Rock with the duo advancing on a wild pitch. Williams then drove the pair home with a two-RBI double down the left field line, pushing the Little Rock advantage to three.
Southeast Missouri got one back in the bottom of the fifth, then had a big inning in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four to claim the 5-3 lead and setting up the dramatic ninth for the Trojans.
Williams, Baumbach and Petol each had a pair of hits for Little Rock as Williams drove in three behind a pair of extra base hits. Rhoades and Bernabe each had singles as well to account for the eight Trojan hits, but again, errors plagued Little Rock, committing three more to help the Redhawks fight back into the game.
Starter
Preston Davis went 6.1 innings and allowed four unearned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts, throwing 104 pitches.
Austin Stubber,
Scott McDonough and Weatherley combined to pitch the final 3.1 innings for the Trojans, allowing a combined two runs (one earned) on five hits as the Trojan pitching staff limited the Redhawks to a combined two earned runs in the doubleheader. Weatherley picked up the loss after allowing the walk-off run in the 10th.
Little Rock looks to salvage the final game of the series at Southeast Missouri Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
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