Trojans One Win from NCAA Berth After Sweeping Saturday Elimination Video games

MARION, Ill. – Little Rock refused to let its season finish Saturday.

Backed by clutch hitting, shutdown bullpen work and one other wave of postseason resilience, the Trojans stormed via two elimination video games on the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, knocking off regular-season champion SIUE 7-5 earlier than rallying late to stun Eastern Illinois 4-3 at Mtn Dew Park.

Now, after 4 straight elimination-game wins, Little Rock is one victory away from an OVC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth.

The Trojans improved to 35-26 general and superior to Sunday’s winner-take-all championship recreation in opposition to Eastern Illinois at midday Sunday. A victory would safe Little Rock’s first-ever back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances.

“It’ll be another good one tomorrow,” Little Rock head coach Chris Curry mentioned. “I don’t think either side has any idea who’s pitching. It won’t matter. It’ll be all heart, guts and adrenaline tomorrow.”

Little Rock’s newest comeback got here in dramatic vogue in opposition to the Panthers.

Trailing 3-1 coming into the eighth inning, the Trojans lastly broke via after Eastern Illinois managed a lot of the afternoon behind an early offensive surge and robust pitching.

Jerdy Lopez opened the inning with a single earlier than Kade Smith doubled to place two runners in scoring place. Blake Simpson then delivered one of many largest swings of the match for Little Rock, lining a two-run single up the center to tie the sport at 3-3.

“We were just focused on having quality at-bats one after another,” Simpson mentioned. “We knew we were going to crack it open.”

The Trojans accomplished the rally within the ninth.

Michael O’Brien entered as a pinch runner and instantly sparked the inning with a stolen base. Cooper Chaplain later drew a stroll earlier than Lopez got here via once more, ripping an RBI single up the center to attain O’Brien and provides Little Rock its first lead of the sport at 4-3.

Lopez completed with three hits and the game-winning RBI, whereas Simpson drove within the tying runs through the eighth-inning rally. Smith additionally recorded three hits within the victory.

Brannon Westmoreland, the Trojans’ ace, closed the door from there.

The junior right-hander, who threw greater than 100 pitches Wednesday evening, entered within the eighth inning and shut down Eastern Illinois over the ultimate two frames, permitting only one hit to earn his sixth win of the season.

“They told me there was a chance for a close,” Westmoreland mentioned. “Around the seventh inning they told me to go ahead and go down to the bullpen because if we tied it, I would probably be going in. Literally that exact inning is when we tied it.”

Despite serving as a starter this season, Westmoreland mentioned he was comfy coming into in aid due to his earlier expertise out of the bullpen at Connors State.

“I’m pretty experienced coming out of the bullpen,” Westmoreland mentioned. “It wasn’t anything new. Obviously, it’s a higher-level situation than what I’ve done before, but I’m used to coming in during big moments.”

Eastern Illinois grabbed momentum early with runs in every of the primary three innings, together with a leadoff homer from Mike O’Conor within the opening body.

Little Rock answered within the second inning when Simpson scored on a wild pitch after Nico Baumbach stole second base, however the Panthers maintained a 3-1 benefit till the Trojans’ late surge.

The bullpen once more performed a significant position in conserving Little Rock inside placing distance.

After starter Malcolm Brown allowed three runs over two innings, Josh Beezley delivered 3.2 scoreless innings in aid whereas placing out three. Blake Van Cleve adopted with 1.1 scoreless innings and three strikeouts earlier than Westmoreland completed the sport.

Curry credited the Trojans’ pitching depth for serving to gasoline the match run.

“We knew early on that we had the pitching depth to make a deep run in a tournament setting,” Curry mentioned. “Even when it didn’t go like we wanted it to during the regular season, I kept telling them, ‘Get to the tournament. You guys have the pitching depth to do it.'”

Westmoreland mentioned adrenaline carried him via the outing after a protracted day on the ballpark.

“I didn’t feel tired at all with the adrenaline,” Westmoreland mentioned. “Our trainers do a really good job, so I was as healthy as I could be.”

The Trojans have now performed 4 consecutive elimination video games courting again to Thursday evening, one thing Simpson mentioned the staff has embraced.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Simpson mentioned. “We push ourselves a lot through the fall to be in this shape, so we’ll be ready for it.”

Little Rock is now 4-0 in opposition to EIU this season. 

TROJANS ELIMINATE SIUE EARLIER SATURDAY

Little Rock opened Saturday by eliminating regular-season champion SIUE with a 7-5 victory in one other win-or-go-home matchup.

The Trojans responded instantly after falling behind 3-1 within the second inning.

Nico Baumbach continued his big postseason by going 4-for-5 with a house run and two RBI. Cooper Chaplain tied the sport within the third inning with a two-run homer earlier than Simpson doubled dwelling one other run later within the body. Baumbach adopted with an RBI single to cap a four-run inning and provides Little Rock a 5-3 lead.

The Trojans added insurance coverage runs within the fourth and sixth innings, together with an RBI single from Nolan Freund.

SIUE collected 12 hits, however Little Rock’s bullpen mixture of Gage Haley, Isaac Evaniew and Tag Andrews restricted the Cougars to only two runs over the ultimate seven innings.

Haley earned the win with 3.1 regular innings in aid after SIUE’s early rally in opposition to starter Zach Busick.

Freshman reliever Tag Andrews closed out the victory with two dominant innings, placing out 4 of the seven batters he confronted whereas permitting only one hit to earn his sixth save of the season.

Simpson mentioned the arrogance from Saturday’s opening win carried instantly into the nightcap.

“We’re on fire,” Simpson mentioned. “We’ve just got to get out there, stay relaxed and we’ll get it done.”

Westmoreland believes the Trojans now carry important momentum into Sunday’s championship showdown.

“I think we have all the momentum in the world to go win this thing now,” Westmoreland mentioned.

Curry mentioned the consistency his staff has proven following final season’s historic NCAA Regional run makes this postseason push particularly significant.

“A lot of teams after a historic year last year would have dropped off or struggled,” Curry mentioned. “I want to establish consistency in this program at a championship level, and that’s hard to do in college baseball. I’m proud that we’re doing that.”