Little Rock Trojans baseball team lost to Western Illinois by a score of 8-5 on Apr. 5, after mounting a late comeback that briefly tied the game in the seventh inning.
The outcome affects both teams’ standings, with Little Rock now holding a record of 19-13 overall and 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Trojans are currently tied for second place with SIUE, while Eastern Illinois leads at 8-1. Western Illinois improves its record to 8-22 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
Little Rock started strong as Nolan Freund drove in Jerdy Lopez with an RBI single in the first inning. However, Western Illinois responded quickly, scoring three runs in their half of the first and adding two more in the second for a four-run lead.
The turning point came when Blake Simpson hit his first home run of the season—a grand slam to right field—that brought home Jack Bilski, Ryan Geck, and Jake McClure to tie the game at five runs each during the seventh inning. Simpson finished with two hits and four runs batted in.
Western Illinois answered immediately by scoring three runs in their half of the seventh inning to secure victory. Kade Smith contributed two hits for Little Rock and stole two bases during the game. On pitching duty, Isaac Evaniew kept Little Rock close by delivering over four scoreless innings out of the bullpen while striking out six batters.
Looking ahead, Little Rock is scheduled to travel to Fayetteville for a matchup against Arkansas on Tuesday before resuming conference play next Friday at SIUE.
