Brannon Westmoreland and
Gage Haley combined on a two-hitter,
Ryan Geck delivered a bases-clearing triple, and
Angel Cano capped the day with a towering home run as the Little Rock Trojans opened the 2026 season with a 6-1 victory over Eastern Michigan University on Friday at Gary Hogan Field.
Westmoreland (1-0) surrendered a walk and a run-scoring double to the first two batters he faced in his first Division I start, but quickly found his rhythm. The right-hander retired 18 consecutive Eagles at one point, finishing with three strikeouts and just one walk over six strong innings.
Haley closed the door to earn the save, striking out six of the 10 batters he faced while allowing just one hit across three scoreless frames.
"It was the first Division I start for Brannon, and I think he would probably tell you there were some jitters," head coach
Chris Curry said. "He got punched a bit by the first two batters, then I think he got mad in a good way and settled down, found his slider, found his release point, and really locked in."
The Trojans responded immediately after falling behind, plating four runs in the bottom of the first. Geck's three-run triple highlighted the rally, and
Ty Rhoades followed with an RBI single to give Little Rock a lead it would not relinquish. The Trojans pounded out 13 hits on the afternoon while striking out just five times.
"We answered with four runs, and that's huge. That's a green check mark for the team — will they fight back?" Curry said. "What I kind of thought would be part of our identity was our maturity. There was zero panic when we fell behind early … no deflation in our dugout."
With the lead secure, Cano added insurance in the seventh with a solo blast to left field. He struck again in the eighth with a ground ball through the middle that scored
Jerdy Lopez, stretching the advantage to five.
Haley entered in the seventh and immediately struck out the side. He worked around a baserunner in the eighth and fanned two more in the ninth to seal the win.
Five Trojans recorded multiple hits, including Cano and Rhoades.
Michael O'Brien doubled twice, while
Cade Martin had two hits, and
Nico Baumbach added a double with a single. Martin, Baumbach, and Lopez also showed patience at the plate, working walks after falling behind 0-2 in their at-bats.
NEXT GAME
Little Rock will look to clinch the series Saturday when the teams meet again at 2 p.m.
THEY SAID IT
"I think I was trying to do a little bit too much at first, but once I got the first out, I knew what I had to do," Westmoreland said. "My job is to go out there and put up zeroes, and once we got the lead, that's what we did."
"It feels great to get that first one," Cano said. "When you put a good swing on the ball and see it fly, good things happen."
Â
Â
