ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Little Rock had its chances throughout Sunday afternoon, but a tough-luck offensive day kept the Trojans from capitalizing in a 3-0 setback to Lindenwood in the series finale at Lou Brock Sports Complex.
Despite the final score, the Trojans (26-19, 12-6 OVC) showed plenty of fight behind a strong outing on the mound and consistent hard contact at the plate that simply didn't find gaps.
"We had a lot of really, really good swings and good approaches," Little Rock head coach
Chris Curry said. "We didn't strike out much at all, just hit a lot of balls on the nose that went nowhere."
Little Rock finished with six hits and put traffic on the bases throughout, but couldn't break through, leaving 10 runners on base and hitting into a string of well-struck outs.
On the mound,
Nic Bronzini turned in one of his stronger efforts of the season, keeping the Trojans within striking distance. The left-hander worked five innings, allowing just one run while striking out five.
"Bronzini was good on the mound, gave us five tough innings right there," Curry said. "He gave us exactly what we needed."
Lindenwood scratched across a run in the first, but Bronzini settled in from there, navigating traffic and limiting damage. The difference came later, when a sequence in the seventh inning extended the Lions' lead.
"We had a walk and then a double to the gap, and then an overthrow on the relay that cost us an extra run," Curry said. "That ended up being big in a tight game like that."
Out of the bullpen, the Trojans continued to compete, with the staff combining for eight strikeouts and limiting Lindenwood to seven hits overall.
At the plate,
Kade Smith led the way with two hits, while
Angel Cano,
Trey Hill,
Nolan Freund, and
Cooper Chaplain each added one.
"We had some hit-and-run lineouts and some balls squared up," Curry said. "That's baseball sometimes, especially on the road."
The Trojans now shift their focus back home, where they'll close the OVC regular season with three straight series - two of them at Gary Hogan Field.
"The good news is we're coming home," Curry said. "We've got our last three series, and two of those are at Gary Hogan Field. We're excited to get back to our home field and play in front of our crowd."
Little Rock returns to action at 6 p.m., Tuesday traveling to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State as the Trojans look to bounce back and build momentum down the stretch.
