Little Rock's pitching staff carried the load over 11 innings Saturday, setting the stage for
Trey Hill's pinch-hit walk-off walk in a 4-3, series-clinching victory over West Georgia at Gary Hogan Field.
Brigden Parker turned in his second straight strong start for the Trojans (5-1),
Tag Andrews tossed three shutout innings of relief in his Little Rock debut, and the combination of
Blake Van Cleve and
Gage Haley delivered 1.2 innings of hitless relief over the final two frames.
"We found a way to win — a little Gary Hogan Field magic there. Trey had a great at-bat to walk us off, and I want to point out what a great job the pitching staff did to keep that game where it was," head coach
Chris Curry said. "In a 4-3 game in 11 innings, you're riding the backs of your pitchers. I thought Brigden did a great job finding his breaking ball and commanding his fastball. So proud of Tag, [Nic] Bronzini, and Van Cleve — front-line Division I guys who hadn't touched the mound yet. They've never been negative, just waited for their turn."
West Georgia (1-6) never trailed until the winning run crossed the plate. The Wolves managed just one run off Parker to take a 1-0 lead in the third, but
Kade Smith answered with an RBI single to left-center in the bottom half to tie the game. The score remained 1-1 heading into extra innings.
The visitors plated two runs in the top of the 10th, but
Ty Rhoades came through again, singling into shallow center to knot the score at 3-3. Van Cleve struck out the first batter of the 11th before Haley entered and retired the next two hitters.
In the bottom half, Smith worked a two-out walk,
Angel Cano was hit by a pitch, and
Nolan Freund reached on an error to load the bases. Hill, the 14th and final Trojan to step into the batter's box, worked a walk to force in the winning run.
"Ty has been a clutch guy from the beginning — he's very calm on deck, had a great at-bat and came through again," Curry said. "It's still early, so we know it's a little messy. There are things that have to be tightened up. In the past, those things played into losses, but now we're overcoming those with talent. Once we tighten up the little things, we're going to start winning in all facets. Proud of the guys for winning the series. Any time you come back to win in extras, that's a big deal."
Little Rock will try for a series sweep Sunday when the teams meet in the finale at 1 p.m.
