MARION, Ill. – Little Rock used a three-run seventh inning and added insurance in the eighth to pull away for a 7-3 victory over Southern Indiana Wednesday night at Mountain Dew Park, advancing in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Trojans improved to 31-25 overall and moved deeper into the double-elimination bracket behind timely hitting, strong bullpen work and another gritty postseason performance.

The Trojans take on No. 1 seed SIUE at 1 p.m., Thursday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and can also be heard on 106.7 Buz2. 

"We know they're going to compete, and we're going to compete too," said sophomore outfielder Kade Smith. "[Head Coach Chris Curry] always talks about going 1-0 every day, and that's our mindset going into tomorrow."

Southern Indiana grabbed the early lead in the fourth inning when Parker Martin launched a two-run homer to right field, but the Trojans answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning.

Blake Simpson got Little Rock on the board with an RBI single to center, scoring Smith. Later in the inning, Nico Baumbach delivered a game-tying RBI single to shallow right field that plated Simpson and evened the score at 2-2.'

"We were out front and underneath a lot early," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "Their starter did a really nice job keeping us off balance with a good three-pitch mix. But Brannon Westmoreland is why he's all-conference and why I think he has a chance to play professionally. He kept the game right where it was for us."

The Screaming Eagles briefly reclaimed the lead in the seventh on Hunter Miller's RBI single, but the Trojans responded with their biggest inning of the night.

After Trey Hill scored on a passed ball to tie the game, Smith lined a two-run single to center field, bringing home Cooper Chaplain and Jerdy Lopez to give Little Rock a 5-3 advantage.

"We knew it was going to be tight because every team here is here for a reason," Smith said. "In that inning we just needed somebody to get on base and get something going. I just wanted to put a good swing on it and ended up finding a gap."

The Trojans added two more runs in the eighth when Chaplain ripped a two-run triple to right center, scoring Ty Rhoades and Hill to extend the lead to 7-3.

"Kade Smith really got us going," Curry said. "He broke up the no-hitter with a double, then came back later with the two-RBI single after we set the inning up. Cooper Chaplain's triple late was huge too and helped put the game away."

Little Rock finished with 11 hits on the night, led by Smith and Chaplain with two hits apiece. Smith drove in two runs, while Chaplain added two RBI and scored once. Baumbach also recorded a pair of hits and an RBI.

"We never panic," Smith said. "We know we have the guys to come back at any time. Our lineup can string together hits whenever we need to, and our pitchers do a great job of keeping the game right there for us."

Brannon Westmoreland gave the Trojans another quality postseason start, working 6.1 innings while allowing three runs on eight hits. Redshirt freshman reliever Tag Andrews shut the door out of the bullpen, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while striking out two to earn the victory.

"Tag Andrews was outstanding," Curry said. "It would have been easy for him to unravel after they scored there, but he bounced back and gave us two huge innings. The tighter the moment and the hotter the fire, the more he likes it. That's what makes him special."

"There aren't freshmen in May and June," Curry added. "Tag has been in a lot of big moments now. He's worked extremely hard with Coach Lee, and we think he's got a really bright future. Right now he's a closer-type guy, but we believe he's a future Friday-night starter."