LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Cooper Chaplain delivered—again.
With one out in the ninth, Chaplain ripped a walk-off double to deep center, scoring Austin Coyle from second and lifting Little Rock to a 5-4 comeback win over UT Rio Grande Valley Tuesday night at Gary Hogan Field.
"I just trust in The Lord, when things aren't going well, and when they turn around," said Chaplain, who also delivered in Little Rock's 14-inning win over Eastern Illinois last week. "No matter how it's going, you keep the faith and keep working."
The Trojans (24-17) erased a 4-0 deficit and leaned on shutdown bullpen work over the final five innings before Chaplain's latest clutch swing finished it.
"It is good to win at home and good to win against a good team," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "We had a little Gary Hogan magic there. UTRGV is a good club. … That was just a good college baseball game."
UTRGV (18-22) controlled the early innings, scoring in the first and using a three-run fourth to build a 4-0 lead. Armani Raygoza drove in two runs, while Thomas Williams added two hits and an RBI as the Vaqueros piled up nine hits and seven walks.
Little Rock answered immediately—and didn't stop.
Nolan Freund ignited the comeback with a two-run single in the fourth, cutting the deficit in half. An inning later, the Trojans capitalized on pressure at the plate, with Kade Smith drawing a bases-loaded walk before Blake Simpson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie it at 4-4.
From there, it became a bullpen game—and Little Rock won it.
Gage Haley, Isaac Evaniew and Tag Andrews combined to hold UTRGV to just one hit over the final 4.2 innings, stranding multiple runners to keep the game within reach. Andrews (1-0) slammed the door with a perfect ninth, striking out two.
"It felt good to get back out there," Evaniew said. "I stuck with my process. I wanted the ball in a midweek, and my defense played a heckuva game."
Little Rock finished with eight hits, getting multi-hit performances from Freund and Chaplain, while Smith reached base twice and drove in a run.
UTRGV left 10 runners on base and didn't score after the fourth inning.
The Trojans will look to carry the momentum into a quick turnaround, hosting UTRGV again Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field.
