Wells Tosses Complete Game, Trojans Win First Game in OVC Championship

MARION, Ill. – Jackson Wells showed why he was named the Ohio Valley Pitcher of the Year on Thursday afternoon in a complete game outing where he allowed just one run and the Trojans topped Tennessee Tech by a score of 4-1. Little Rock now moves on to the semifinals of the tournament and will play Morehead State tomorrow at 2 p.m.
 
The game started off quietly for both sides aside from two Trojan singles as Wells retired the first eight Golden Eagles hitters. Back to back hits by Tennessee Tech put them up by a run in the top of the third inning.
 
Neither team could make any progress from that stage of the game on the offensive front as the game blazed on, neither team would get a hit until Tyler Williams broke the stalemate in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Following a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, Little Rock finally sprang into action with back to back singles by Skyler Trevino and Noah Brewer with one out. A hard hit ground ball back to the pitcher by Christian Bernabe that was mishandled allowed for just one out at first and the Trojans moved two runners into scoring position with two outs.
 
Ty Rhoades then stepped up to the dish, and on the first pitch he saw laced a line drive double into the right field corner. Trevino and Brewer each came around to score to put Little Rock on top 2-1, still with two outs. Jake Wright followed and slapped a hard ground ball through the left side. Rhoades rounded third with a throw from the TTU left fielder on the way and managed to maneuver around an outstretched tag to safely reach home and extend the lead by one.
 
Wells struck out the leadoff batter in the eighth and after a single, induced a ground ball to third which was converted into an inning ending double play from Nico Baumbach to Trevino to Bernabe.
 
The Trojans added an insurance run with two gone in the bottom of the inning when Baumbach clobbered a first pitch breaking ball into the wind to left that made its way over the fence for his 14^th homerun of the year.
 
Wells, determined to finish what he started, made quick work of the Golden Eagles in the top of the ninth inning. He faced the minimum of three batters for the sixth time in nine innings as he got two groundouts and a flyout to secure the first conference tournament win for Little Rock since 2019.
 
Wells was phenomenal in his OVC Championship debut, going the full nine innings while striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits. Outside of the back to back hits in the third inning, Wells allowed just one more batter to reach safely with a knock for the rest of the game and he was immediately sent back to the bench following a double play.
 
Rhoades played hero on the offensive side with a clutch two out two-bagger to begin the scoring for the Trojans in the bottom of the seventh and also showed impressive hustle to score on a single the very next play.
 
Baumbach provided insurance for Little Rock late in the game with his homerun and was vital to the Trojans defensive effort, starting the double play in the eighth and nabbing a hard line drive that was bound for extra bases in the second inning.
 
The Trojans will now look ahead to a huge matchup against Morehead State Friday at 2 p.m., the winner of the game will advance to the final on Saturday and the loser will have to play Friday evening and win to make it to championship Saturday.
 
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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