Baseball Recaps - June 5
FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Troy 12,
Little Rock 2
TROY 12, LITTLE ROCK 2
TROY, Ala. - Early on Friday afternoon, Little Rock looked every bit like the team that stormed through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and the Hattiesburg Regional.
The Trojans took the lead in the first inning, but Troy answered and pulled away for a 12-2 victory in Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional before 6,426 fans at Riddle-Pace Field.
Little Rock now faces a must-win situation in Saturday's Game 2 at 2 p.m. broadcast on ESPN2 and 103.7 The Buzz. A Trojan victory would force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday with a trip to the College World Series in Omaha on the line. The game time is to be determined.
The loss snapped Little Rock's eight-game winning streak, a stretch that included five victories in six days to claim the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and three consecutive wins to capture the Hattiesburg Regional. The Trojans remain one win away from extending the most successful postseason run in program history.
Little Rock struck first in the opening inning. Jerdy Lopez doubled and Kade Smith followed with a single before Blake Simpson delivered an RBI groundout to give the Trojans a 1-0 advantage.
Kade Smith paced the Little Rock offense, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Simpson drove in both Trojan runs, while Lopez and Trey Hill each doubled. Little Rock finished with seven hits but was unable to generate a rally after the third inning.
Brannon Westmoreland took the loss after allowing six runs, five earned, over 3.1 innings. Gage Haley provided 2.2 innings of relief, while Blake Van Cleve and Josh Beezley also saw action out of the bullpen.