MONROE, La. — Riley Pittman's three-homer day sparked Little Rock as they swept the Saturday afternoon doubleheader at ULM to notch their fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference series victory. The Trojans picked up a 7-3 win in the first game before taking the second half of the twin bill 4-2.
Pittman had an incredible day at the plate to lead the Little Rock offense, going 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in game one before blasting yet another home run in game two. The senior's third home run of the day drove in three runs and was nearly all the offense the Trojan pitching staff needed in the second game.
Ryan Benavidez was another standout in game one, going 3-for-3 with two runs-scored, reaching base every time he came to the plate.
Hayden Arnold toed the rubber in the first half of the doubleheader and produced a very quality outing, throwing five and 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, zero earned, with two strikeouts. Donavin Buck came on in crunch time to close both contests, tossing three innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five of the 10 hitters he faced to slam the door on the game one victory. The Brawley, Calif. native came on to pitch in the eighth inning of game two to pick up the four-out save in the tight 4-2 win.
Jose Torres was magnificent is his game-two start on the mound. The San Diego, Calif. native racked up seven and 1/3 innings with no earned runs, punching out six hitters while scattering eight hits.
Game One
Little Rock wasted no time getting on the board in the first game, as Pittman blasted a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Trojans an early 2-0 lead.
Ramon Padilla made it 3-0 when he singled up the middle to score Benavidez in the third, but ULM would answer with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it 3-2.
Nick Perez doubled in the fifth inning to score Padilla to extend the lead to 4-2, but the Warhawks made it a one-run ballgame once again in the bottom half.
Garrett Scott gave the Trojans some breathing room in the eighth with a two-run shot and then Pittman launched a no-doubt home run to make the score 7-3.
Buck entered the contest in the seventh inning and was phenomenal in his relief appearance, picking up the nine-out save, his fifth of the season, after throwing three innings of one-hit ball to close out the game.
Game Two
Little Rock notched four hits in game two, but it was enough to score four runs and outlast the hosts and take the series.
The first three runs came from Pittman's third home run of the day, a three-run blast to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
ULM fought back to make it 3-2 in the eighth, but Christian Reyes hit the first home run of his Little Rock career in the top half of the ninth to give the Trojans a much-needed insurance run before Buck came to pitch in relief yet again.
Buck completed his four-out save, his sixth of the season, tossing one and 1/3 innings of perfect baseball, registering two strikeouts during the outing.
Little Rock improves to 19-20 overall (11-6 Sun Belt) and will head to Ruston, La. to take on Louisiana Tech April 23 at 6 p.m.
Trojans sweep doubleheader to take series at ULM
Little Rock has now won four Sun Belt series in a row