MARION, Ill. – Little Rock refused to let its season end Saturday.

Backed by clutch hitting, shutdown bullpen work and another wave of postseason resilience, the Trojans stormed through two elimination games at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, knocking off regular-season champion SIUE 7-5 before rallying late to stun Eastern Illinois 4-3 at Mtn Dew Park.

Now, after four straight elimination-game wins, Little Rock is one victory away from an OVC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

The Trojans improved to 35-26 overall and advanced to Sunday's winner-take-all championship game against Eastern Illinois at noon Sunday. A victory would secure Little Rock's first-ever back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances.

"It'll be another good one tomorrow," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "I don't think either side has any idea who's pitching. It won't matter. It'll be all heart, guts and adrenaline tomorrow."

Little Rock's latest comeback came in dramatic fashion against the Panthers.

Trailing 3-1 entering the eighth inning, the Trojans finally broke through after Eastern Illinois controlled much of the afternoon behind an early offensive surge and strong pitching.

Jerdy Lopez opened the inning with a single before Kade Smith doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Blake Simpson then delivered one of the biggest swings of the tournament for Little Rock, lining a two-run single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.

"We were just focused on having quality at-bats one after another," Simpson said. "We knew we were going to crack it open."

The Trojans completed the rally in the ninth.

Michael O'Brien entered as a pinch runner and immediately sparked the inning with a stolen base. Cooper Chaplain later drew a walk before Lopez came through again, ripping an RBI single up the middle to score O'Brien and give Little Rock its first lead of the game at 4-3.

Lopez finished with three hits and the game-winning RBI, while Simpson drove in the tying runs during the eighth-inning rally. Smith also recorded three hits in the victory.
Brannon Westmoreland, the Trojans' ace, closed the door from there.

The junior right-hander, who threw more than 100 pitches Wednesday night, entered in the eighth inning and shut down Eastern Illinois over the final two frames, allowing just one hit to earn his sixth win of the season.

"They told me there was a chance for a close," Westmoreland said. "Around the seventh inning they told me to go ahead and go down to the bullpen because if we tied it, I would probably be going in. Literally that exact inning is when we tied it."

Despite serving as a starter this season, Westmoreland said he was comfortable entering in relief because of his previous experience out of the bullpen at Connors State.

"I'm pretty experienced coming out of the bullpen," Westmoreland said. "It wasn't anything new. Obviously, it's a higher-level situation than what I've done before, but I'm used to coming in during big moments."
Eastern Illinois grabbed momentum early with runs in each of the first three innings, including a leadoff homer from Mike O'Conor in the opening frame.

Little Rock answered in the second inning when Simpson scored on a wild pitch after Nico Baumbach stole second base, but the Panthers maintained a 3-1 advantage until the Trojans' late surge.
The bullpen again played a major role in keeping Little Rock within striking distance.

After starter Malcolm Brown allowed three runs over two innings, Josh Beezley delivered 3.2 scoreless innings in relief while striking out three. Blake Van Cleve followed with 1.1 scoreless innings and three strikeouts before Westmoreland finished the game.

Curry credited the Trojans' pitching depth for helping fuel the tournament run.

"We knew early on that we had the pitching depth to make a deep run in a tournament setting," Curry said. "Even when it didn't go like we wanted it to during the regular season, I kept telling them, 'Get to the tournament. You guys have the pitching depth to do it.'"

Westmoreland said adrenaline carried him through the outing after a long day at the ballpark.

"I didn't feel tired at all with the adrenaline," Westmoreland said. "Our trainers do a really good job, so I was as healthy as I could be."

The Trojans have now played four consecutive elimination games dating back to Thursday night, something Simpson said the team has embraced.

"We're just taking it one game at a time," Simpson said. "We push ourselves a lot through the fall to be in this shape, so we'll be ready for it."

Little Rock is now 4-0 against EIU this season. 

TROJANS ELIMINATE SIUE EARLIER SATURDAY
Little Rock opened Saturday by eliminating regular-season champion SIUE with a 7-5 victory in another win-or-go-home matchup.
The Trojans responded immediately after falling behind 3-1 in the second inning.

Nico Baumbach continued his huge postseason by going 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Cooper Chaplain tied the game in the third inning with a two-run homer before Simpson doubled home another run later in the frame. Baumbach followed with an RBI single to cap a four-run inning and give Little Rock a 5-3 lead.

The Trojans added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings, including an RBI single from Nolan Freund.

SIUE collected 12 hits, but Little Rock's bullpen combination of Gage Haley, Isaac Evaniew and Tag Andrews limited the Cougars to just two runs over the final seven innings.
Haley earned the win with 3.1 steady innings in relief after SIUE's early rally against starter Zach Busick.

Freshman reliever Tag Andrews closed out the victory with two dominant innings, striking out four of the seven batters he faced while allowing just one hit to earn his sixth save of the season.
Simpson said the confidence from Saturday's opening win carried directly into the nightcap.

"We're on fire," Simpson said. "We've just got to get out there, stay relaxed and we'll get it done."

Westmoreland believes the Trojans now carry significant momentum into Sunday's championship showdown.

"I think we have all the momentum in the world to go win this thing now," Westmoreland said.

Curry said the consistency his team has shown following last season's historic NCAA Regional run makes this postseason push especially meaningful.

"A lot of teams after a historic year last year would have dropped off or struggled," Curry said. "I want to establish consistency in this program at a championship level, and that's hard to do in college baseball. I'm proud that we're doing that."