MACOMB, Ill. – Little Rock picked up a pair of wins Saturday at Western Illinois, rallying to complete a suspended game with a 6-5, 10-inning victory before earning an 8-5 win in the regularly scheduled contest to improve to 19-12 overall and 7-1 in the OVC.
"Man, what a day. Conditions were about as bad as they could be on a saturated field and 40 degrees with 20-mph winds," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "These guys just showed incredible toughness coming back to win the first game, and them jumping out and early and winning the second game.
"It feels good to win the series, and we will be ready to take the third game tomorrow."
In the opener, which was suspended Friday due to weather, the Trojans resumed play trailing 5-4 and responded immediately. Little Rock tied the game in the ninth on an RBI single by Ty Rhoades, then took the lead in the 10th as Cade Martin delivered a go-ahead RBI double to score Nolan Freund.
Gage Haley earned the win in relief, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts as part of a staff effort that recorded nine strikeouts over 10 innings. Brannon Westmoreland started and worked 5.1 innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits.
Offensively, the Trojans totaled 10 hits, led by Kade Smith's two-hit, two-RBI performance. Trey Hill added two hits, while Jerdy Lopez drove in a run and stole a base.
Little Rock carried that momentum into Game 2, jumping out early and never trailing in an 8-5 victory.
The Trojans struck for four runs in the first inning, highlighted by Trey Hill's three-run home run, and added another run in the second on Ryan Geck's solo shot to take a 5-1 lead. Little Rock extended the advantage to 6-2 in the fourth on an RBI single by Lopez.
After Western Illinois closed within 6-3, the Trojans added two key insurance runs in the eighth. Blake Simpson delivered an RBI double, and Lopez followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 8-3.
Brigden Parker earned the win, allowing three runs (one earned) on eight hits over 5.0 innings with five strikeouts. Nic Bronzini added 2.1 innings with five strikeouts, Malcolm Brown provided a scoreless outing, and Haley closed the door with a scoreless ninth, striking out three to earn the save.
Lopez paced the offense in Game 2, going 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Hill drove in three runs. Smith and Freund each added two hits as Little Rock finished with 13 hits in the game.
Little Rock goes for the sweep Sunday with the finale set for 1 p.m. There will not be a steaming broadcast, but fans can follow the action with live updates on social media.
