Those fans who stuck it out for a 3 ½ hour game on a Wednesday evening were treated to the best kind of ending, as
Ryan Geck laced a ball down the third base line to score
Zach Henry and give Little Rock a 9-8 win over Memphis in 10 innings at Gary Hogan Field. The Trojans (5-3) erased a five-run deficit to remain perfect at home with Murray State coming to town for a weekend series starting Friday afternoon.
"It was a gutsy performance. It wasn't very pretty but it doesn't have to be all the time. Tonight was a game where you learn how to win even though you don't do some things well. We got punched in the nose right out of the gate and it would've been easy to lay down but we didn't do that. Every game has been like this where we fought back and tonight, we got it done." – Little Rock head coach Chris Curry
Memphis (5-3) took advantage early while Trojan pitchers struggled to find their location, as the Tigers scored three runs in the second and two more in the fourth while managing just one total hit in the two frames. The Tigers took advantage of four walks and three hit batters during those frames to put runners on.
The Trojans responded in the fourth, tying the game on
Zach Henry's three-run triple in an inning that also included singles from Geck and
Cooper Chaplain, while
Trey Hill,
Jackson Rains, and
Reed Willbanks all drew walks. Chaplain and Geck scored on those walks before Henry cleared the bags to tie the game.
The Trojans went on to take the lead in the sixth on a sacrifice bunt from
Alex Seguine and a single from Geck. Little Rock wiped out Memphis' early lead with eight straight runs of their own.
Memphis tied the contest in the top half of the ninth, but after Henry took a pitch to the back, then advanced to second on Seguine's perfectly placed bunt, Memphis elected to intentionally-walk Chaplain to set up a double play opportunity. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Geck was on deck for the game-winner.
"I knew he would try to get the fastball by us early, he's a tough pitcher to hit. He ended up giving me a slider which I'd much rather hit over a 99-mph fastball, so it made it easy on me." – Little Rock junior Ryan Geck
Zach Busick,
Blake Van Cleve,
Hunter Royal, and
Josh Beezley all took the mound for the Trojans, and the win was credited to Beezley (1-1), who pitched his way out of a jam in the 10
th. Busick went three innings as the starter and Van Cleve put in 3.2 innings of relief. Royal went 2.1 innings to set up Beezley in the extra frame.
