Trojans rally to finish off sweep

UALR 10, TROY 9

The UALR baseball team found itself in a familiar spot Saturday, then played its way through a familiar ending at Gary Hogan Field in Little Rock.

UALR fell behind 3-0 in the first inning to Troy and 7-2 in the second before pulling out a 10-9 victory on a Zach Baker single that scored Nik Gifford in the seventh. The victory runs its winning streak to six games, its longest in four seasons.

The Trojans (12-11, 5-4 Sun Belt Conference) scored two runs in the first, four in the second and three in the third before Gifford’s game-winner, which helped them overcome the first rough outing this season by starter Joe Corbett. It was UALR’s third come-frombehind victory in the series sweep.

“When you add some heart and toughness to some skill, then you’re able to string some wins together, and that’s what’s going on right now,” UALR Coach Chris Curry said. “This club is a blast to be in a dugout with right now.”

Corbett, who had been UALR’s most consistent starter, made it through 1 2/3 innings after allowing three runs in the first and second innings as the Trojans trailed 6-2. A seventh run scored on reliever Reed Willenborg’s wild pitch in the second.

But Ryan Scott hit a tworun double and Dalton Thomas followed with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-6.

In the third, Hayden Martin hit a sacrifice fly and Scott, who is now hitting .489 on the season after going 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, hit a two-run single to right field to give UALR a 9-7 lead.

Willenborg held Troy (1312, 3-6) without an earned run over four innings. Jarrid Garcia (1-1) allowed a tworun double to Brody Binder in the seventh that tied the game at 9-9, but he got out of the inning. Keenan Wingfield pitched two scoreless innings to earn his second save.

Curry said Corbett suffered from a “lack of focus” while giving up 6 runs on 7 hits, but his offense didn’t. The Trojans, who entered hitting .299 as a team, had 13 hits to close a series sweep in which it hit .346.

UALR fell behind 3-0 before winning 11-8 on Thursday and trailed 1-0 and 2-1 on Friday on the way to a 4-3 victory.

“We just never feel like we’re out of it,” said Gifford, who led off the seventh with a double before scoring the winning run. “We try to not panic, that’s the main thing. We don’t try to do too much, we just try to get guys on base and try to hit them in.”

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 9, ARKANSAS STATE 7

Georgia Southern (15-8, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference) scored four runs in the second inning to erase an early lead, and ASU’s four-run rally in the eighth inning fell short Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves (11-12, 3-6) were held to four hits in losing the series finale. Matt Burgess hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning as ASU took a 3-1 lead, and then walked with the bases loaded in the eighth. Joe Schrimpf then hit a two-run single in the eighth to get ASU within 9-7.

Coulton Lee, one of eight ASU pitchers used, took the loss after giving up 2 runs on 3 hits over 2 innings. Bryan Ayers gave up 3 runs on 2 hits and he walked 4, while Zach Haake and J.D. Miller each gave up two runs.

SOUTHLAND HOUSTON BAPTIST 3, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 2

Carey Jones hit an RBI double in the ninth, and Louie Payetta drove in the winning run with a single in the 10th inning as Houston Baptist (11-12, 3-3 Southland Conference) won the series finale Saturday at Bear Stadium in Conway after losing the opening two games.

UCA’s Tyler Langley gave the Bears (11-11, 5-4) a 2-1 lead with a two-run home run in the fifth inning, and the lead held until the ninth when Brandon Brintz led off with a double off Jacob Murray and Jones doubled two batters later.

In the 10th, Chris Durham gave up consecutive singles before Payetta singled home Kendrick Holmes to make it 3-2. The Bears went down in order in the bottom of the 10th.

Riley Echols held Houston Baptist to 1 run on 3 hits and struck out 4 over 8 innings.