Alexander's late home run leads Trojans over Panthers

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Troy Alexander's seventh-inning home run gave the Trojans the edge they needed in their 6-2 victory Saturday afternoon against Georgia State.

"It's important to win a series at home," said Head Coach Chirs Curry. "I've been very pleased with the pitching. The defense was much better today. That was a big at-bat from [Alexander] to get one up in the air and get it out of here. Ours has come such a long way in this program since his freshman year, he sets us up for tomorrow."
 
Hayden Arnold got the nod for Saturday's matchup with the Panthers and produced a very solid outing going 5 and 2/3 innings and earing the no-decision. The sophomore only allowed two earned runs on the day while notching three strikeouts. He would hand the ball off to Zach Ours in the sixth, the eventual winning pitcher, who was stellar out of the bullpen. The Lee's Summit, Mo. native tossed 3 and 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits.
 
Alexander led the Trojans' offense with a 2-for-3 day, including a home run and a two bagger. Chase Coker also had a nice day at the plate, also going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
Christian Reyes led off the game with a walk to get things started for the Little Rock offense. The leadoff hitter would then steal second and third before Riley Pittman drove him home with a sacrifice fly to give the Trojans an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Panthers would even things up in the second to make the score 1-1 and then score again in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Little Rock would fight back to tie the game in the fifth inning when Ramon Padilla would pick up a clutch two-out hit to score Alexander who started off the inning with a double.
 
Alexander was not done, however, as he launched a towering home run to right field, his fifth of the season, to give the Trojans the 3-2 edge heading into the eighth inning.
 
The Trojans would grab three more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to give Ours a good cushion for the ninth. The senior would get out of bases-loaded jam to earn the win and improve to 3-0 on the season.
 
Little Rock will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 12 p.m. at Gary Hogan Field.