LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Nathan Lyons drove in four runs, Jake Wright had a career day, and the pitching duo of Hayden Arnold and Aaron Barkley limited Louisiana to just two runs and struck out 12 in leading Little Rock to the 8-2 series opening victory at Gary Hogan Field Friday afternoon.
Lyons and Wright both went 3-for-4 on the afternoon, accounting for six of Little Rock’s 14 hits against the Ragin’ Cajun pitching staff. Tyler Williams, Noah Dickerson and Eldrige Figueroa each added a pair of hits as well as Wright drove in a pair of runs while scoring twice.
On the mound, reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week Hayden Arnold picked up where he left off, throwing 99 pitches over 6.0 innings and allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 6-3 on the season. He struck out a pair in each of the first three innings, with his second of the third making him the seventh member of the Little Rock 200 strikeout club.
Aaron Barkley came out of the bullpen to pitch the final three innings, earning his sixth save of the season. He allowed just one hit with one walk, retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced with four strikeouts.
It was a less than ideal day for baseball through the first two innings as a consistent rain, heavy at times, started to fall right around first pitch. Little Rock took advantage in the bottom of the first, using a Lyons leadoff single and a walk from Jorden Hussein to get a pair on and advance to scoring position. But Cajun starter Spencer Arrighetti began to find his rhythym and was able to keep the Trojans off the scoreboard.
Arnold was strong through the rain, retiring 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, striking out six, with the lone blemish a solo home run off with one gone in the top of the third. Little Rock responded in the bottom half of the inning as Lyons drew a one out walk, then was able to score from first on a two-out single from Wright, the first RBI of his Trojan career.
The Trojans added another in the fourth behind a leadoff single from Russ, advancing to third off a wild pitch and a ground out. Williams came to the plate with two outs and once again, came up with the big hit, knocking an RBI single to left to bring Russ home and give Little Rock the 2-1 lead.
Wright then came up with a big defensive play in the sixth, teaming up with Arnold for a strike-out, throw-out double play to end the sixth and energize the Trojans, who responded in kind in the bottom half off the inning.
A single from Dickerson and a double from Kobe Barnum gave the Trojans runners at second and third with one out, prompting a Ragin’ Cajun pitching change. Little Rock then tallied three-straight hits on the Louisiana reliever, including an RBI single from Wright, an RBI double from Figueroa and two RBI single from Lyons to bring four runs across and extend the lead to 6-1.
Arnold ran into some trouble in the seventh as a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases for the Cajuns with no outs, bringing Barkley into the game. Louisiana did get one across off a sharp grounder to Hussein that he was able to snag to prevent more damage, and Barkley then proceeded to register three strikeouts to end the Louisiana threat.
Little Rock threatened in the seventh with a pair of runners in scoring position, but then came through in the eighth when a single by Wright and a hit-by-pitch to Figueroa put two on for Lyons, who ripped a two RBI double down the left field line to extend the Trojan lead to 8-2.
That cushion would be more than enough for Barkley, who retired the final five Cajuns he faced to preserve the win for the Trojans.
Little Rock’s victory is its 10th-straight win at Gary Hogan Field, dating back to the 6-5 win over Eastern Illinois on February 27. With the victory over Louisiana, Little Rock moves into first place in the Sun Belt West Division, owning a half game lead on UT Arlington and a game edge on the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Game two of the series is schedule for Saturday evening at Gary Hogan Field with Aaron Funk expected to take the mound for Little Rock. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.