MARTIN, Tenn. – In a game that felt more like a heavyweight fight than a baseball game, Little Rock delivered blow after blow Sunday afternoon and walked out of Skyhawk Field with one of its biggest offensive performances of the season.

The Trojans pounded out eight doubles and three home runs while overcoming multiple deficits in a game that featured 30 combined runs and 36 total hits. Little Rock improved to 30-22 overall and 16-8 in OVC play with the win. 

"It's hard to win in Division I baseball. It's hard to win 30 games," Little Rock head coach  Curry said. "We're doing it on the road, and that's a great job coming away with the series."
UT Martin struck first with a leadoff homer in the opening inning before the Skyhawks exploded for five runs in the third to build a 6-0 advantage. 

Little Rock answered immediately with its biggest inning of the season. The Trojans sent 14 batters to the plate during a stunning 10-run fourth inning that completely flipped the game. Kade Smith started the rally with an RBI double before Nico Baumbach delivered a bases-loaded double that cleared the bases. Trey Hill added a two-run homer later in the inning while Jerdy Lopez capped the surge with a two-run single as the Trojans suddenly grabbed a 10-8 lead. 

"This team just continues to show up," Little Rock Curry said. "That's what we told them yesterday — when life gets hard for you, just get out of bed, show up to the park and keep playing."
UT Martin answered again in the fifth, scoring five runs to retake the lead at 13-10, but the Trojans never blinked.

"I think we know what kind of team we are," Baumbach said. "We're a really good team overall. When the pitchers don't have their best stuff, we have their backs offensively, and when we struggle at the plate, they pick us up. The coaches talked to us about staying loose and remembering we have nothing to lose. Just be yourself and play the way we're capable of playing."

Little Rock chipped away in the sixth inning as Nolan Freund launched a solo homer and the Trojans added two more runs to pull within 13-12. 
"Today felt like one of those days where we knew we were going to hit," Baumbach said. "We saw the pitchers pretty well from the start and the first half of the order was really confident. We were ready to attack."

The Trojans tied the game in the eighth when Freund doubled and later scored, setting the stage for the decisive ninth inning. 

After the two teams traded blows throughout the afternoon, Angel Cano delivered the biggest swing of the game, crushing a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to put Little Rock back in front. Blake Simpson later added another insurance run as the Trojans carried a 16-14 lead into the bottom of the inning. 

"On Friday I said our stars have got to be stars, and Angel Cano hit that home run there in the top of the ninth," Curry said. "There were a ton of stars today. Guys got big hit after big hit after big hit."

Baumbach finished 3-for-6 with four RBIs and two doubles while Cano, Freund, Simpson, Lopez and Ty Rhoades all collected three hits apiece. Freund scored three times and added two RBIs while Smith finished with two doubles and two RBIs. 

"I'm betting there wasn't a guy in the lineup without a hit," Curry said. "Trey Hill off the bench hits the two-run homer to tie it back up. There were so many stars today."

Once Little Rock settled in offensively, the confidence inside the dugout continued to grow.

"Once we got that first run on the board, everybody kind of settled in," Baumbach said. "We felt like we could keep building from there."

After Little Rock used five pitchers through the first five innings, Tag Andrews stabilized the game out of the bullpen. The freshman tossed four innings, allowing just one run while striking out four to earn the victory. 

"Tag had a battle there, and he showed some incredible toughness by coming through and getting us four scoreless innings," Curry said.

The Trojans now head into next weekend's showdown with SEMO still firmly in the hunt near the top of the OVC standings. They are in second place, two games behind SIUE. 

"Even though it's a big series, we're just trying not to think about that too much," Baumbach said. "We're focused on playing our best baseball down the stretch. SEMO is a really good team with good hitting, pitching and defense, but if we play hard and stay together, we know what we're capable of doing."