Strong Pitching, Timely Hitting Leads Trojans to Weekend Sweep

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock starter Preston Davis pitched seven strong innings before handing ball off to Hoss Brewer for the final six outs of Saturday's 4-2 series finale win for the Trojans over the Skyhawks of UT Martin. The victory completed the sweep for Little Rock over UT Martin and improved the Trojans record to 17-11 overall and 6-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
 
Both offenses struggled to get going through the first half of the game as Davis and Skyhawks pitcher Eric Steensma were in cruise control, allowing just three total hits between the two through the first four frames.
 
It was UT Martin that broke the scoreless tie with a two out single into right field in the top of the fifth, bringing in a run and putting the Skyhawks up 1-0 before a strikeout ended the inning with runners on second and third.
 
The Trojans, much like they had in the previous two games of the series, answered with runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to retaking the lead for good. Christian Bernabe and Andrew Pickering started things off with back to back hits to put two runners in scoring position with no one out. Bernabe would score via passed ball in the next at bat and Pickering crossed the plate on a single from Alex Seguine. An infield hit legged out by Nico Baumbach pushed the final run of the inning across and the Trojans led 3-1 by the end of it all.
 
UT Martin would get two runners on base to begin the top of the sixth, but a popped up sacrifice bunt attempt was snagged by a sliding Jake Wright near the netting, and after a strikeout and another popup, the threat was avoided as Davis kept things rolling.
 
Little Rock added on in the bottom of the frame, again starting with Bernabe and Pickering reaching base before a single through the right side by Seguine brought Bernabe home and pushed the Trojans lead to three.
 
A pair of unfortunate errors led to the Skyhawks getting an unearned run in the top of the seventh, closing the gap to two runs yet again in Davis' final inning.
 
Brewer entered the eighth protecting the two run lead and, after a leadoff walk, forced a flyout and coaxed an inning ending double play that saw Seguine range to his right, pop up from a slide and flip to Skyler Trevino at second who the tossed the ball to Bernabe at first to complete the twin killer.
 
Following a quiet inning from the Little Rock offense, Brewer headed back to the mound to try and close out the ninth. A leadoff double began the inning on a chopper down the third base line to bring the tying run to the plate. Fortunately, the Skyhawk baserunner took off on a ground ball to short as he was cut down trying to advance in the next at bat. Two fly balls to left and right field followed in a fairly uneventful frame and the Trojans had completed the series sweep of UT Martin.
 
The Trojans collected 10 hits as a team in today's game as this marks the fourth consecutive game of double digit hits, four players had multi-hit games this afternoon. Little Rock also won all four games played this week between Tuesday's midweek at ULM and the weekend series against UT Martin.
 
Davis continued his dominant start to the conference season, throwing seven innings and allowing just four hits and one earned run, his first earned run allowed in OVC play. The sophomore from Texarkana, Texas struck out a career high 10 batters as his season ERA dropped to 2.52 and he picked up his fourth win of the season.
 
Brewer carried his success from Tuesday's midweek at ULM into today with two shutout innings to close out the game, earning the save in the process.
 
Bernabe and Pickering sparked both scoring innings for the Trojans this afternoon in 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 performances respectively.
 
Seguine had a spectacular day at the plate and in the field, going 2-for-3 while driving in two runs and also making two key plays late in the game with the double play and throwing a runner out at third.
 
Despite not collecting a hit at the dish, Wright had multiple big defensive moments in the game. Cutting down a dangerous baserunner at third in the first inning, which would have put a Skyhawk on third with no one out. Also, a sliding catch behind home plate that got the first out of an inning where UT Martin was threatening to score.
 
The Trojans will now look ahead to a two game midweek series at in-state opponent Arkansas. Little Rock will travel up to Fayetteville on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. game before sticking around for a 4 o'clock first pitch on Wednesday.
 
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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