A five-run first inning was more than enough support for Little Rock pitcher
Jack Cline, as he cruised on the mound in an 11-1 win in eight innings over Evansville on Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
Cline, a senior, recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in six innings giving up just four hits while yielding one run and walking none.
"I was just doing what the coaches have been telling us to do as a staff – attack the zone," he said. "Let the off-speed work, and if they put it in play let the defense work. I didn't try to do too much. I just trusted the guys behind me."
Evansville grabbed the college baseball world's attention by nearly upsetting eventual national champion Tennessee in the Super Regional last summer.
"We're off to a great start, and I don't know if we have started 3-0 since I have been here," said longtime Trojans head coach
Chris Curry. "To do that against a club like that, that I have so much respect for with the arms they have on the front end - I just really, really respect Evansville.
"I was curious to see how our guys would respond after going up 2-0 and having an off day. It would have been rea easy to relax and not come out here ready to go. I thought the key to the game – I expected Evansville to punch us early, and they did. They got a single and a double and had runners on second and third but Jack was able to get the punch outs there and leave them standing on second and third. Then, we responded in the bottom half with five runs, and I think that set the tone. That really showed our mentality for game three."
Zach Henry and
Ryan Geck each were 3-for-5 for Little Rock (3-0). Henry drove in one run and Geck three. Geck, a junior college transfer, recorded four hits in the season-opening win.
Cooper Chaplain and
Ty Rhoades totaled two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
The Trojans scored their first run when Chaplain, who singled, stole second allowing
Alex Seguine, who reached on a single, to score.
Geck then blasted a double, scoring Chaplain.
Aiden McGinnis reached on an error, and Rhoades doubled scoring Geck.
Trey Hill then grounded out scoring a run and Rhoades scored on a balk.
Little Rock, who banged out 13 hits, added single runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively. The Purple Aces didn't get on the board until the sixth inning when they added their lone run and Cline exited finishing that inning with a 7-1 lead with 86 pitches for the day.
"I just felt good from when I got here," Cline said. "I thought it was going to be a good day. We had yesterday off, so I had a day to recover Friday with a doubleheader. Once I got here, it's not about me, but the team and how we can win, so I am just out there trying to help us win."
Malcolm Brown pitched the final two innings in relief and did not give up a hit while striking out three and walking none.
The Trojans invoked the run-rule in the eighth inning when Geck smoked another shot off the wall scoring the 11
th run.
"I am going to just keep it rolling and sticking to my same routine that I have had for the last month in the intersquads and games," said Geck, a Long Beach, Calif., native. "I just have a simple, middle-opposite approach and try to get good pitches to hit."
Little Rock, who is off to its best start since 2014 when they started 5-0, is back in action Tuesday making the short trip across the border to play Memphis (1-1) The Tigers split a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri on Friday. Memphis closes out the series with the Trojans' Ohio Valley Conference rival Monday afternoon.
