CHARLESTON, Ill. -- In just his third plate appearance this season, Arkansas High graduate Graydon Martin had arguably the most impactful hit of the afternoon for Little Rock with his single through the left side to tie things up with two outs in the ninth.
The lead, however, would vanish in the bottom of the frame in unconventional fashion, when the Trojans recorded a double play to end the inning and send it to extras, but after a short conference between umpires, a runner was called safe and that allowed the runner who crossed home to score and walk the game off, 7-6.
Martin, a sophomore from Texarkana, Arkansas, was 1-for-1 with two RBI and scored the go ahead run in the game. For the season, he is 2-for-3 at the plate, with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.
It was the Trojans who got out to the initial lead in the second game of the afternoon, getting a run across the plate on a double play in the top of the second inning to jump out 1-0.
The Panthers answered in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own on a sac fly and infield single and would extend the lead in the bottom of the fifth as they struck for three runs in that inning, going up 5-1.
Little Rock again answered the bell and began a comeback with two runs in the top of the sixth. A single by Ty Rhoades followed by a double from Nico Baumbach put runners on second and third to start the inning. Skyler Trevino was then able to bring home Rhoades with a groundout and Pectol hit a sac fly to left that scored Baumbach to bring the game within two runs.
Both teams held their positions until the top of the ninth with the Trojans needing two runs to continue play. Trevino kicked things off with a single and Christian Bernabe singled up the middle with a flyout in between.
A wild pitch moved the runners up into scoring position and Little Rock was in the same scenario it had found itself in the previous game. Martin stepped up to the plate with two outs and sent a single through the left side, scoring both runners and knotting the game at five apiece.
A walk to Seguine and single off the bat of Williams sent Martin across the plate and all of a sudden, the Trojans had their first lead since the top of the second inning.
Eastern Illinois was able to get a few runners on in the bottom of the inning and tied things up with a single to right and two runners still on base with just one out.
An intentional walk followed to create a force out at every base and Jacob Weatherley was able to coax a ground ball out of the following hitter for a potential double play.
Initially both runners were called out on the 6-4-3 inning ending double play, but after a conference between the umpires the call on the field was overturned and the runner at first was called safe.This made the runner who crossed the plate on the play safe instead of out and the Panthers walked-off Little Rock in an unconventional fashion.
Trevino led the way for the Trojan offense in game two, going 3-for-4 at the plate while scoring twice and also driving in a run.
Little Rock starter Hoss Brewer lasted five innings in his start and struck out six batters while giving up seven hits. Although five total runs were credited against him, just two of these were earned.
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(Texarkana Gazette Sports Director Jason Hopkins contributed to this report)
Graydon Martin