LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The final score from the Troy Super Regional may have brought Little Rock's 2026 season to an end, but it did little to diminish what will be remembered as the greatest season in program history.
The Trojans captured their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship, advanced to a second straight NCAA Regional, won the Hattiesburg Regional and reached the first NCAA Super Regional in school history. Along the way, Little Rock set a program record with 39 victories, defeated nationally ranked opponents and continued its rise as one of college baseball's emerging programs.
For head coach Chris Curry, perhaps the most important accomplishment was proving that last season's breakthrough was no fluke.
"I did not want people to kind of pat us on the head after last year and go, 'Well, that was nice. So happy for you guys to have a year like that,'" Curry said. "I wanted to fight with every fiber of my being not to let that happen."
Instead, the Trojans followed their historic 2025 campaign with an even more memorable 2026 season.
Little Rock opened the year with one of the best starts in school history and remained in contention for the OVC regular-season championship until the final weekend. The Trojans finished the regular season 30-25 and entered the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Curry credited the team's maturity and lessons learned from the previous season for helping navigate the grind of a long campaign.
"The regular season was more consistent than the season before due to our health and due to the way that we played," Curry said. "I think we learned how to pace ourselves a little more this year."
That experience proved invaluable in Marion, Illinois.
After dropping its second game of the OVC Tournament, Little Rock once again found itself battling through the loser's bracket. The challenge was even more difficult than the year before, requiring six victories in five days to win the championship.
"I think somebody said to me, 'Boy, it's going to be tough. You guys have got to win six games and nobody's ever done that,'" Curry recalled. "I kind of nodded, but I chuckled in my mind going, 'Yep, we can do it. We did it last year.'"
Little Rock responded by doing exactly that, winning six games in five days to claim its second straight OVC Tournament title and secure another NCAA Tournament berth.
The resilience displayed throughout the season became one of the team's defining characteristics.
"Nobody ever says, 'Well, I panicked and it fixed everything,'" Curry said. "What they do say is, 'We calmed down, we slowed down, we took a breath and we got a plan.'"
The Trojans repeatedly executed that approach, becoming one of the nation's top comeback teams.
"We had kind of mastered the art of a comeback," Curry said. "Once you've seen yourself do it once or twice or three times, you start to get comfortable in that situation."
The confidence carried into the NCAA Tournament.
Drawn as the No. 4 seed in the Hattiesburg Regional, Little Rock opened against host and No. 1 seed Southern Miss. The Trojans rallied late to stun the Golden Eagles 7-4 before defeating Jacksonville State twice to capture the regional championship and earn the program's first Super Regional appearance.
"It was another notch in our belt, so to speak," Curry said. "We keep reaching new plateaus, but at the same time the belief just starts getting cemented and no game or no environment is one that we think we can't win."
The regional championship marked another first for a program that has rewritten its history over the past two seasons.
"There comes a time in every program where they have a year and then they have another year that changes the program forever," Curry said. "That's what I had hoped - that we had started that trigger year and then the backup year. Now you're off and running where it's expected that Little Rock is going to compete for championships, be in the postseason and be in a regional."
The season ultimately ended in Troy, where the host Trojans advanced to the College World Series. Even in defeat, Curry viewed the experience as another step in the program's evolution.
"You've got to get there before you can win it," Curry said. "You've got to get to a regional before you win a regional, get to a super before you get to Omaha. We got to a super and we kind of went, 'Okay, I see what this is about.'"
Curry also pointed to the atmosphere and facilities in Troy as a glimpse of what Little Rock Baseball can become.
"We have the bones and the heartbeat of what we need, which are the players, the coaches, the development and the talent," Curry said.
The momentum generated by the season has already carried into the offseason.
Curry and his staff immediately turned their attention toward roster retention and recruiting, and the early returns have been encouraging. The vast majority of Little Rock's key contributors are expected to return while the coaching staff continues to add talent through the transfer portal.
"I don't think enough people talk about the ability to keep your players," Curry said. "Everyone told us our roster was going to be gutted when we left LSU last year. It wasn't. This year, same story. Nobody that was a key component on last year's team has told us they want to leave."
Junior pitcher Brannon Westmoreland believes the foundation is already in place for another championship run.
"Coach Curry talked all year about getting back to this point and continuing to build on what we accomplished last season," Westmoreland said. "The LSU Regional experience gave us a lot of confidence, and I think you saw that throughout this postseason run. We're bringing back a big group of guys and only losing a few key pieces. With the way the coaches recruit and the number of transfers they're bringing in, there's no telling how good this team can be. This team might be even better next year."
Freshman All-American reliever Tag Andrews said the team's legacy extends beyond wins and championships.
"I think this was about our whole team giving Little Rock something to remember," Andrews said. "We wanted to win for Little Rock and give everything we had every time we stepped on the field. We had a special group of guys, and I think we showed what this program can be. We played for each other, and hopefully what we accomplished this year is something future players can build on for years to come."
As Little Rock prepares for its first season in the United Athletic Conference, the program enters a new era with unprecedented momentum.
"I think the energy and excitement around the program is at such a fever pitch, at an all-time high, that the timing could not be better," Curry said. "People want to be a part of it."
For Little Rock Baseball, 2026 was more than a historic season. It was another step toward building a championship-caliber program capable of competing on the national stage year after year.
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