LITTLE ROCK – After spotting Arkansas State a five-run lead in the second, Little Rock rallied back to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. But the Red Wolves got one in the top of the ninth and the Trojans left the tying run in scoring position for the second-straight night in a 7-6 loss Friday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
Arkansas State used a big second inning to build a five-run lead, using a walk, single, RBI ground out, double and single to start the inning to build a 3-0 lead. A two-run home run pushed the Red Wolves lead to 5-0, ending starter
Erik McKnight's outing after just 1.2 innings.
Jonesboro native
Jacob Weatherley came out of the bullpen and had another quality performance, shutting down the Red Wolves offense and allowing Little Rock to begin to chip away at the deficit. A one-out single by
Jack Stroth in the bottom of the fourth set the table for
Jake Wright's fifth home run of the year, a two-run shot to left to narrow the gap to 5-2.
Jorden Hussein led off the fifth with a long shot to left, just missing his first career home run as the ball careened off the wall and he slid into third with a triple.
Eldrige Figueroa then sent a blooper to right center, dropping between the Arkansas State defense as Hussein scored to make it 5-3.
Weatherley would retire 10 of the first 14 batters he faced, allowing just two hits with two walks. Arkansas State would lead off the sixth with a solo home run, pushing its lead to 6-3 as Weatherley left with two outs in the inning, giving way to
Chance Vaught, who registered his first strikeout to end the inning.
Miguel Soto cut into the deficit in the home half of the sixth, sending the second pitch he saw over the wall in left, narrowing the lead to 6-4.
Six-straight Red Wolves were retired by Vaught in the seventh and eighth inning and the Trojans led off the eighth with a
Canyon McWilliams double, advancing to third off a wild pitch. Wright send a shot down the left field line that hit the base and popped straight up in the air, allowing McWilliams to score and make it 6-5.
Wright stole second, followed by a walk from
Nathan Lyons, setting the stage for
Jorden Hussein, who ripped a double to right center. That allowed Wright to score easily and Lyons sprinted home to try and give the Trojans the lead, but he was ruled out on a play at the plate to end the inning and keep the score at 6-6.
Arkansas State went back in front in the ninth off a walk, wild pitch, sacrifice bunt and a passed ball on a walk, putting the Red Wolves on top 7-6 heading to the ninth.
Noah Dickerson responded with a two-out double to right, followed by an intentional walk to McWilliams, putting the tying and winning runs on base. But a strikeout to end the game secured the win and the series for the Red Wolves.
Little Rock outhit Arkansas State 12-10 with Dickerson, McWilliams, Wright, Hussein and Figueroa each tallying a pair of hits. Dickerson, McWilliams and Hussein each had doubles while Hussein added his triple in the fifth, complemented by the home runs from Wright and Soto as Wright finished the day with three RBI.
On the mound, Vaught earned the hard luck loss after allowing one run on no hits in 3.0 innings of work, walking three with no strikeouts but walked the eventual go-ahead run in the ninth. Weatherley finished with one run on four hits and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work, but a combined six walks, two wild pitches and a passed ball proved costly.
The two rivals will play the final game of the series Saturday, scheduled for 1 p.m. Rain and storms are in the forecast Friday night into Saturday, so stay tuned to
@LittleRockBSB on Twitter and LRTrojans.com for any updates regarding Saturday's start time.
#LittleRocksTeam
