COOKEVILLE, Tenn. —
Nolan Freund homered twice, head coach
Chris Curry made history, and the Little Rock Trojans opened Ohio Valley Conference play Friday with a 12-4 win over Tennessee Tech at Bush Stadium.
The victory marked Curry's 276th career win at Little Rock, moving him past legendary coach Gary Hogan for the most in program history.
Jack Bilski added his first home run of the season as the Trojans (12-10, 1-0) built an early 8-0 lead and tacked on insurance runs late.
"It's great to be 1-0 and start conference play with a win, and it starts on the mound.
Brannon Westmoreland got out of a jam early, and that's what Friday night guys do," Curry said. "Nolan was outstanding, and he and Bilski came up big.
Tag Andrews was really good coming in and getting four strikeouts in two innings."
As for the milestone victory, Curry was both proud and humbled.
"It was a fun night for everybody involved. I stand on Coach Hogan's shoulders—he literally built this. I know he's fighting, and I hope he's feeling better. I just want him to know we love him. I've had so many great players and coaches come through here, and I just try to stay out of the way."
Freund and Bilski hit back-to-back home runs to right-center as part of a three-run third inning. Freund later added a three-run blast during a five-run fifth that pushed the lead to 8-0.
The Golden Eagles (9-13, 0-1) chipped away to get within 8-4 after six innings, but the Trojans responded with a run in the eighth and three more in the ninth. Little Rock finished with 15 hits, led by Freund and
Cade Martin with three apiece.
Kade Smith,
Jerdy Lopez, and Bilski each added two hits.
Westmoreland (3-0) delivered another solid outing, going six innings with three strikeouts. Andrews followed with two hitless innings, striking out four, and
Malcolm Brown closed out the ninth.
The teams meet again Saturday at 2 p.m.
