The Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans defeated the LSU Tigers 10-4 on Sunday night in Alex Box Stadium. The win clinches forces a game seven in the Baton Rouge Regional, which will be played on Monday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Little Rock (27-33) was the acting home team in this game, and they started right-hander Noah Burkey in this one. Given that the Trojans had to beat Dallas Baptist earlier in the day to get to his game, pitching depth was starting to dwindle. There was traffic on the bases early, and Steven Milam’s two-run single capped a three-run inning that gave LSU an early 3-0 advantage.
LSU (45-15) went with Jaden Noot on the mound. He gave up a baserunner but was able to get out of the inning with no damage done and his team’s 3-0 lead in tact.
The Trojans were able to get on the board in the bottom of the second. Angel Cano launched a towering two-run shot to left, cutting the lead down to 3-2.
LSU pitching gave up no runs in the first two games of this Regional, but Sunday was a different story. Little Rock followed up their two-spot with four more in the third, running Noot from the game. The big blow in the inning came again from Cano, this time with a bases-clearing double. That gave the underdog Trojans a 6-3 lead.
LSU would trim that lead a bit in the fifth, scoring Luis Hernandez on a wild pitch. That made it 6-4, but the Trojans’ plan to use plenty of different arms was working, as they wiggled out of multiple jams in the middle innings.
The Trojans added insurance in the bottom of the eighth. Jacob Mayers struggled with command in the inning, and Little Rock used a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4. They followed that up with an RBI groundout to increase the lead to 8-4, and a wild pitch made it 9-4. Finally, Cooper Chaplain’s RBI single made it 10-4.
Malcolm Brown, who had entered in relief and handled the middle-to-late innings for Little Rock, stayed out for the ninth. He worked another clean inning, allowing the Trojans to stun the Tigers.
BIG NUMBER: 16
The plan for Little Rock was for pitchers to work four outs at a time. Brown exceeded those expectations easily, giving the Trojans the final 16 outs to secure the upset win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Angel Cano
Cano came into this Regional with just 4 homers and 18 RBIs. He has almost matched those totals this weekend alone. He went 2-5 with a home run, double, and 5 RBIs to lead the Trojan offense.
UP NEXT: LSU and Little Rock will play in a winner-take-all game seven tomorrow inside Alex Box Stadium. You can listen to the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.