Four Trojans Homer, Little Rock Drops Game One to Morehead

MOREHEAD, Ky. – It was a back and forth game early, but late runs scored by Morehead were the difference maker as the Eagles pulled ahead of the Trojans for a 12-8 win. The loss drops Little Rock to 30-20 on the season and 14-7 in OVC play with two games to go.
 
MSU took the early lead in the bottom of the first on a bases loaded fielder's choice that brought home the game's first run, but a strikeout by Jackson Wells ended the inning without any further damage.
 
Noah Brewer reached base to lead off the top of the second and after a popout, Ty Rhoades gave Little Rock the lead with a two run shot to center field, putting the Trojans up 2-1. Two more Trojans would reach base in the inning, but no more runs were scored.
 
Wells worked around a leadoff single before retiring the next three Eagles in the bottom of the frame to get Little Rock back into the dugout. Nico Baumbach then began the third with a blast to left to put Little Rock up by two runs, a tape measure blast off of the portable video board beyond the wall.
 
Morehead State brought things within one with a solo homer of its own in the bottom of the third, and added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two out single to take a 4-3 lead heading into the fifth.
 
Trojan baserunners made their way to the corners with one out in the top of the inning when a fielder's choice off the bat of Christian Bernabe brought home the tying run, it would be the only run of the inning for Little Rock.
 
A walk and single put two on to begin the bottom of the fifth before a three run homerun put MSU up by three. Another walk followed, but a double play and strikeout ended the inning.
 
Solo homeruns by Alex Seguine for Little Rock and Roman Kuntz for Morehead shifted the score to 8-5, but still the Eagles held a three run advantage at the end of the sixth.
 
The next nine batters were retired, with three consecutive half innings going 1-2-3 to take the game to the bottom of the eighth. Morehead would strike for four runs in the inning, capped off by a two run homerun to extend the lead to seven runs.
 
Little Rock began to make things interesting in the ninth, a Skyler Trevino homerun with one out started the scoring and Jake Wright doubled down the left field line to bring home two more but it was not enough as MSU recorded the final out to end the rally and put the game into the books.
 
Four Trojans hit a homerun on the afternoon with just Rhoades' long ball bringing home multiple runs, eight total homeruns were hit in the contest.
 
Much of the difference today came with runners on base and in scoring position. Little Rock was just 1-15 with runners on and 0-9 with RISP compared to MSU being 6-16 and 5-10 in the same situations.
 
Both teams struggled with free passes as each pitching staff walked six batters and hit one additional hitter and as many hitters were stuck out as there were homeruns in the game.
 
Little Rock will be back in action tomorrow at 5 p.m. EST for game two of three against Morehead, Camden Sargent is the projected starter for the Trojans going up against Grant Herron for MSU.
 
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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