UALR Rallies To Topple FIU, 7-6, And Even Series
By: Jason Snavely
Updated: April 22, 2012
Sophomore Andrew Hohn
threw 4.0 shutout frames out of the bullpen to help UALR rally for a
7-6 victory over FIU (24-15, 10-7 Sun Belt) on Sunday, in the completion
of a game
which was halted on Saturday afternoon due to rain. UALR (19-19, 6-11)
trailed 5-2 when play was stopped in the bottom of the fourth on
Saturday, but fought back to take its first lead of the game in the top
of the seventh and rode a stellar outing from its
bullpen to the win.
Hohn
(1-2) took the mound in the bottom of the fifth trailing 5-4 with the
bases loaded and one out, and managed to limit FIU to just one run off a
sacrifice fly. The North Little Rock, Ark.-native
threw scoreless frames in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and
combined with freshman Cameron Allen and junior Marshall Hamrick to finish off the win in the ninth.
Hohn
recorded the first out in the ninth before giving way to Allen, who
struck out Pablo Bermudez for out number two. UALR called on Hamrick for
a left-lefty matchup with the tying run on second.
Hamrick issued a walk to the first batter he faced, but induced a
game-ending fly out from Jabari Henry to record his first save of the
year.
UALR outhit the Golden Panthers 10-to-8 in the win, led by 3-for-5 performances from sophomore Ben Crumpton and junior Myles Parma. Junior Chris Burk drove in the game-winning
run in the top of the seventh when he plated junior Blake Johnson with a RBI single to center.
FIU
reliever Eddy Pidermann (7-1) suffered his first loss of the season
after allowing three hits and a run over 1.1 innings. Starter Michael
Ellis held the Trojans to four hits and two runs (one
earned) with six strikeouts over 4.0 innings, but did not return to the
game when play resumed on Sunday. Adam Kirsch went 3-for-4 with three
runs scored and three RBI in the loss, and hit two home runs over the
first four innings on Saturday to help FIU to
its 5-2 lead.
UALR starter Blake Huffman
worked his way out of a jam in the first inning after Bermudez (single)
and Nathan Burns (walk) reached base to open the game. With two runners
on and no outs, Huffman
struck out Henry and the Trojans were able to turn a double play as
Bermudez was caught stealing at third. Huffman then struck out Mike
Martinez to end the inning and keep FIU off the scoreboard.
The
rain started to pick up in the bottom of the second after the Trojans
went down in-order in the top half. Huffman retired the first batter of
the inning, but Kirsch followed a walk by Oscar Aguirre
with a two-run homer to deep left to stake the Golden Panthers to a 2-0
lead.
UALR got on the board in the top of the third after senior Cameron Bentley stretched a single to shallow left into a double with some aggressive base running. Bentley came around to score
as Ellis was called for two balks during senior Sean Bignall's at-bat. UALR threatened to tie things up as Bignall and senior Nick Rountree drew back-to-back walks off Ellis. Bignall moved over to third with his sixth stolen base of the year,
but the Trojans left runners on the corners as Ellis got a strikeout to end the inning.
The Trojans evened things up at 2-all in the top of the fourth as sophomore Tyler Cameron plated Parma with a two-out single to center. Parma reached base with a single to left and moved into
scoring position on a passed ball by FIU catcher Aramis Garcia.
FIU
reclaimed the lead in the bottom half compliments of a leadoff homer to
left by Kirsch. The Golden Panthers went on to load the bases as Huffman
hit a batter and walked two, the last of which
chased him from the game. Cooper took the mound for Huffman as the rain
continued to fall, and hit the first batter he faced to force across a
run and give the Golden Panthers a 4-2 lead. Cooper got Martinez to line
out to short for the second out, but UALR
committed a throwing error on the play as the Trojans tried to turn two,
allowing Bermudez to score from third. After Cooper hit his second
batter of the inning to re-load the bases, the umpires elected to stop
the game and tarp the field.
Cooper
returned to the mound when play resumed at 10 a.m. (CT) on Sunday, and
promptly got a fly out to left from Aguirre to escape the jam without
any further damage. John Caballero came on to pitch
for FIU in the top of the fifth and Crumpton greeted him with a double
down the left field line. Crumpton moved up to second as Caballero hit
Bignall with a pitch, and scored on the next at-bat off an FIU throwing
error. With a runner on first and two outs,
Parma plated a run with a RBI double to right, but was nailed at third
base to end the inning as he tried to stretch the play into a triple.
FIU
extended its lead back to two runs, 6-4, after opening the fifth inning
with back-to-back walks. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt, and
UALR elected to intentionally walk Bermudez to
load the bases with one out. Hohn came on to pitch with the bags full
and one out, and managed to hold the Golden Panthers to just one run off
a sacrifice fly by Burns.
Trailing
6-4, the Trojans pushed across two runs in the top of the sixth to tie
things up at 6-all. Bentley brought UALR within a run when he plated
sophomore Bryson Thionnet from second with
a RBI base knock. FIU caught Bentley in a rundown play as he tried to
steal second, but the Kansas City, Mo.-native managed to knock the ball
out of T.J. Shantz glove, and moved all the way over to third on the
error. Bentley scored from third moments later
as Crumpton delivered a RBI single to right off Pidermann.
UALR
took its first lead of the game in the top of the seventh after Johnson
drew a walk and Parma singled off the pitcher to set the table. With two
men on and one out, Burk made it a 7-6 ballgame
with a run-scoring single to center.
Hohn
forced FIU to strand the tying run at third in the bottom of the sixth,
and then pitched a scoreless frame in the seventh and eighth innings to
preserve the lead. Trailing 7-6 in the bottom
of the ninth, Aramis Garcia opened the inning with a leadoff single and
moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Julius Gaines.
UALR
called upon Allen with the tying run on second and one out, and the
Wichita Falls, Texas-native struck out Bermudez (looking) for the second
out. The Trojans brought on Hamrick to face Burns
in a lefty-lefty matchup. Hamrick walked Burns after falling behind 2-0
in the count, but got a game-ending fly out to center from Henry to seal
the win and record the save.
