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Fidel, Benavidez lead Little Rock past Arkansas State in extras

Fidel was brilliant in his 14th start of the season, allowing one run in his nine innings of work while fanning eight Red Wolves on the night

JONESBORO, Ark. — Chandler Fidel's incredible pitching performance and Ryan Benavidez's 11th inning home run led the Trojans to a 2-1 win over the Red Wolves in the series opener, Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
 
"Chandler Fidel put us on his back, along with Donavin Buck who took us home," said Head Coach Chris Curry. "We were sleep-walking offensively, but our pitchers kept us in it. I told the team that there are going to be nights when one side has to pick the other side up, and tonight, the pitching picked us up."
 
Little Rock improves to 26-26 overall (16-11 Sun Belt) while Arkansas State falls to 26-27 (11-17 Sun Belt).
 
Fidel was absolutely brilliant in his 14th start of the season, allowing one run (zero earned) in his nine innings of work while fanning eight Red Wolves on the night. The junior only surrendered six hits and one walk in his masterpiece on the mound. Donavin Buck took the ball with one out in the ninth and threw 2.2 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.
 
The Trojan offense struggled in the series opener, but key hits from Christian Reyes and Benavidez sparked some life into the Little Rock batting order. Reyes scored the Trojans' first run in the sixth and Benavidez's late homer gave Little Rock the lead. Benavidez and Eldrige Figueroa each recorded two-hit days at the plate.
 
Both teams' left-handed pitchers, Chandler Fidel and Arkansas State's Chandler Coates, had a great deal of success keeping the hitters off balance early in the contest, as both teams were scoreless through the first five frames.
 
Little Rock threatened in the top of the third when Eldrige Figueroa slapped a leadoff single to right field, but was eventually left stranded after two quick strikeouts ended the threat.
 
The Trojans finally got in the board in the sixth inning when Christian Reyes started things off with an infield base hit. Benavidez followed with a solid hit up the middle before James Gann eventually brought home Little Rock's leadoff hitter to give his team a 1-0 advantage.
 
Fidel continued to cruise for the remainder of the game, carrying the load for the Trojan pitching staff until Donavin Buck took the ball with one out in the ninth. The left-hander threw 112 pitches on the night.
 
The Red Wolves put together a rally in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. Buck stranded runners on second and third by picking up a strikeout and a ground ball to get out of the inning.
 
In the top of the 11th, Benavidez blasted a solo shot to right field to break the tie and give Little Rock the 2-1 lead.
 
The Little Rock closer came up huge for the visitors, as Buck tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball to earn the win. In the bottom of the 11th, Arkansas State managed to put runners on first and second with no outs, but the Brawley, Calif. native shut them down to clinch the victory.
 
Game two will take place tomorrow at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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