Trojans Baseball Falls in Midweek Contest at Louisiana Tech, 4-3

Courtesy University of Arkansas at Little Rock Athletics Department

RUSTON, La. – UALR (10-11) dropped a 4-3 decision to Louisiana Tech (8-14) on Tuesday at J.C. Love Field. Both teams did all their respective scoring in a single set of at-bats, with the Bulldogs scoring four in the bottom of the second and UALR putting up three runs in the top half of the third. 

Jamie Gilley picked up the win for Louisiana Tech to improve to 1-0 on the season. Gilley threw 4.1 innings of relief, allowing no runs on just one hit. Sophomore Cameron Allen was saddled with the loss for the Trojans to fall to 1-1 on the year. Allen started the game and surrendered four runs on five hits over 2.0 innings of work. Caleb Dudley recorded the final three outs for the Bulldogs to earn his third save of the season. 

Junior Travis McDonald came on in relief of Allen and threw 4.2 innings while giving up no runs on four hits. Freshman Jesse Harbin struck out two batters and surrendered no hits in 1.1 innings of relief work.

The UALR offense produced seven hits spread across seven different players in the contest. Sophomore Ben Crumpton finished the game 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored, while seniors Myles Parma and Blake Johnson both finished with a hit and an RBI. 

Louisiana Tech struck first by putting up four runs in the bottom half of the second. Consecutive singles by Kody Neel and Ryan Jones to start the frame gave the Bulldogs two runners on with no outs, while a wild pitch by Allen advanced both runners. A single by Thomas Simoneaux scored Neel and moved Jones to third, and a sac fly by Taylor Burch plated Jones for the second run of the inning. After Allen was able to retire the next batter on a ground out, a two-run homer by Kyle Arnsberg made it a 4-0 game after two innings. 

UALR answered with three runs in the top half of the third. Senior David Guarno led off the inning with a single, and Crumpton doubled to right center. Junior Austin Pfeiffer then drew a walk to load the bases for UALR with no outs. An RBI single by Johnson played the first Trojan run of the inning, and a drawn walk by senior Chris Burk with the bases loaded plated the second. Parma drove in UALR’s third run of the frame on a fielder’s choice.

The Louisiana Tech bullpen kept the Trojans’ offense in check over the final six innings, as UALR managed just two hits after their three-hit, three-run third inning. Junior Kaleb Jobe provided a one-out single in the ninth, but Crumpton lined into a double play to end any chance of a UALR scoring threat.

The Trojans return to action with a three-game weekend series at South Alabama. First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:30 p.m.