Little Rock lost to No. 22 Arkansas, 7-0, on Apr. 7 in a non-conference baseball game at Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Trojans kept the game close through four innings before Arkansas took the lead in the fifth and broke out with five runs in the sixth inning. The matchup showed Little Rock’s ability to compete against highly ranked teams by holding Arkansas to just four hits for much of the night.
“The difference was the sixth inning,” Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. “We struck a guy out but threw the ball away, and then they hit the ball down the line. They got the big hit, and we didn’t.”
Offensively, Little Rock collected seven hits from five different players. Kade Smith led with a two-for-three performance that raised his batting average to .374, while Angel Cano added two hits as well. Jerdy Lopez, Michael O’Brien, and Blake Simpson each contributed one hit apiece.
On pitching duty, Nic Bronzini opened with three scoreless innings without allowing a hit and striking out three batters. Gage Haley followed on the mound and was charged with the loss after giving up one run over just more than an inning of work. Tag Andrews struck out two batters during his appearance while Zach Busick, Malcolm Brown, and Trent Jordan finished off pitching duties for Little Rock.
Looking ahead, Little Rock will return to Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend when they travel for a key series against SIUE.
