LITTLE ROCK - UALR
used a
two-run fifth and a three-run sixth inning to pull away from ULM for an
8-3
victory on Sunday to complete the three-game Sun Belt Conference series
sweep
at Gary Hogan Field. The game was called after six innings following an
1:50
rain delay - all three games of the series featured a delay due to
weather.
The Warhawks scored
runs in
the second, third and fourth innings to tie the game at 3-all, but
Anthony
Pryor held ULM scoreless over the final two innings. Pryor (3-2) earned
the
abbreviated
complete game victory. He allowed three runs - two earned - on
six
hits. Pryor didn't record a strikeout or an official walk in the outing,
but had
walked back-to-back batters with one out in the seventh and had ULM's
leading
hitter Caleb Clowers at the plate when the game was called.
Casey McCollum led
off the
fifth inning with a double to right field and gave UALR the lead for
good one
batter later as he scored on a single to right by Jake Rowell.
McCollum's
double came on 1-2 pitch from ULM starter Josh Miller - the Trojans
(27-23,
10-15 Sun Belt) had two base hits and an RBI grounder in a two-run first
inning on 1-2 pitches.
Following a pair of fly outs to center and a walk, Nate Brown gave UALR a
5-3
lead with a single to right to score Rowell.
Perry Smith got it
done at the
plate and in the field for the Warhawks (17-34, 7-20). The senior right
fielder
finished 1-for-2 with an RBI and had a career-high three outfield
assists. The
first five batters in the UALR lineup had multiple hits paced by a
3-for-4
effort by Rowell.
The Trojans got
after Miller
early with a pair of runs on four hits in the opening inning. After
falling
behind 1-2, McCollum reached on a Texas-league single into left-center
field.
After a Rowell single, Miller got ahead of the next two batters 1-2, but
both would drive in runs -
Jason Houston scored McCollum with a grounder to short and Tyson Parks
hit his
seventh homer of the season.
A pair of doubles
that painted
both outfield lines by Casey Auttonberry and Smith cut the lead in half
in the
second. Auttonberry placed his two-bagger down the left-field line and
Smith's
fourth double of the season hugged the right-field line for his 19th
RBI of the season and eighth in the past nine games.
Nick Wade tied the
game with a
single between third and short with runners on the corners in the third
inning.
Clowers and Judd Edwards reached on back-to-back singles that ricocheted
off
Pryor to set up Wade's team-leading 46th RBI of the season.
The back-and-forth
play
continued as UALR jumped back in front 3-2 on a double down the line in
left
field by Landis Wilson to score Parks after he reached on a two-out
single. The
inning could have been worse for ULM, but Shane Ardoin, Edwards and Wade
teamed up on a relay throw to get Houston trying to stretch a double
into a
triple earlier in the frame. It was the second of four outfield assists
in the game
for ULM.
The Trojans carried
the
momentum they generated in the fifth inning into the sixth inning as
they
scored three runs on three hits and a Warhawk error. Houston had the big
hit of
the inning with a two-run single to left. Rowell opened the scoring with
a
single to right with the bases loaded - Smith saved another run gunning
out
Brock Feldman at the plate on the play.
Miller (1-5) was
tagged with
the loss after allowing eight runs - five earned - on 13 hits in 5.2
innings of
work. He walked four and struck out one before handing the ball off to
Wil
Browning.
ULM wraps up
non-conference
play when it hosts Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Warhawk
Field.
The Warhawks then play host to ULL for a three-game series to close out
the
season Thursday through Saturday - all three games against ULL will
start at 6
p.m.
