Williams Becomes All-Time Total Base Leader as Trojans Clinch the Weekend

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Senior outfielder Tyler Williams led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single back up the middle to etch his name into the Little Rock record book. The hit put Williams at 305 total bases in his Trojan career, passing Miguel Miranda (304, 1998-2001), who was previously the only Little Rock player to eclipse the 300 total base mark. The run he would later score would go on to be instrumental in Little Rock's 10-5 win, being the game winner. The victory improves the Trojans record to 22-14 on the year and 9-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play as Little Rock will now play for the sweep of SIUE in Sunday's matchup.
 
The Cougars took the early advantage immediately when Brennan Orf homered as the first batter of the game. SIUE would proceed to get runners to first and third with one out, but a strikeout and groundout ended the inning without any further damage being done.
 
Sophomore Alex Seguine started the second consecutive game off with a double down the right field line in the bottom of the first, but he would be stranded at third as the Trojans were kept off the scoreboard in the first inning.
 
A bounce back inning in the second from starter Noah Burkey got the Trojans back in the dugout with some momentum that the offense soon took advantage of. Skyler Trevino began the inning with a single before back to back outs put Little Rock on the brink of another scoreless inning. However, a single by Noah Brewer and walk by Jake Wright loaded the bases with two outs before another base on balls drawn by Seguine tied the game up at one. Williams then stepped up to the plate and sent a double down the left field line, bringing in two more runs and tying the career total bases record.
 
Burkey then got a shutdown inning and Little Rock continued to add on in the bottom of the third. Trevino walked and Luke Pectol doubled to right-center, putting two in scoring position with just one out. A sac fly from Christian Bernabe and another single by Brewer brought home two more runs and put Little Rock up 5-1.
 
The long ball continued to plague the Trojans as a three run shot in the fifth to go along with another solo homer by Orf tied up the game after six innings at five apiece.
 
Little Rock would take the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning, a leadoff single by Williams paired with a stolen base and advance on ground ball got him to third with less than two outs. After a hit by pitch and walk, a shallow sac fly scored Williams thanks to his speed and advanced all runners up. SIUE then hit the next two Trojan batters, pushing another run across, and putting Little Rock up 7-5.
 
The Trojans added three more runs for good measure in the bottom of the eighth with Bernabe and Baumbach picking up RBIs and Williams scoring on a throwing error by the Cougars backstop.
 
Jacob Weatherley closed out the ninth with a scoreless inning, working around a leadoff double and ending with Andrew Pickering making a nice running grab while heading toward the right field line to secure the series win for the Trojans.
 
For the second day in a row Little Rock was outhit by the Cougars, but played a clean game with zero errors and took advantage of scoring situations throughout the game.
 
Williams served as the catalyst for the Trojan offense, going 2-for-5 with a double, driving in two runs and scoring twice. The Lilburn, Georgia native also stole three bases on the evening.
 
Trevino showed great patience at the dish as he walked three times and went 1-for-2 in the game, scoring twice.
 
Brewer continued to swing a hot bat, collecting two hits in a 2-for-3 game while driving in two runs and scoring once.
 
Austin Stubber and Weatherley combined to throw three shutout innings to finish out he game, allowing three hits and striking out two on just 31 total pitches. Stubber also earned the win this afternoon.
 
Burkey battled through six innings on the mound and gave the Trojans the chance to win in his start and the long ball was the only way SIUE was able to get on the scoreboard in the contest.
 
Little Rock will now try and secure their third consecutive OVC home series sweep on Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field. Junior Hoss Brewer is slated to get the start and he will be facing off against Teague Conrad for SIUE.
 
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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