HATTIESBURG, Miss. \u2013 Little Rock is one win away from a Super Regional.<\/p>\n
The Trojans continued their remarkable postseason run Saturday night, defeating Jacksonville State 8-6 before 5,331 fans at Pete Taylor Park to advance to the championship round of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional.<\/p>\n
Little Rock improved to 38-26 overall and advanced to Sunday’s Regional Final at 8 p.m. The Trojans will face the winner of Sunday’s 3 p.m. elimination game between No. 2 seed Virginia and No. 3 seed Jacksonville State. Little Rock will need just one victory to capture the regional championship, while its opponent must beat the Trojans twice. Jacksonville State beat Virginia 15-7 Friday in the openig round of the Regional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The appearance marks Little Rock’s second consecutive trip to a Regional Final and the first time in program history the Trojans have reached the championship round through the winner’s bracket.<\/p>\n
Little Rock’s postseason surge has become one of the most remarkable runs in program history. The Trojans entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Hattiesburg Regional after winning six games in five days to capture a second straight Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship. Since arriving in Hattiesburg, Little Rock has added victories over No. 1 regional seed Southern Miss and No. 3 seed Jacksonville State to move within one win of a Super Regional berth.<\/p>\n
“I was thinking about it in my room today,” Little Rock head coach Chris Curry<\/a> said. “A gentleman that I highly respect walked into my office on day two and said, ‘What are you doing? Why did you take this job? This program can’t win. You can’t get players here.’ I said, ‘Because I believe.’ I believe baseball can be played the right way anywhere if you run a program the right way and get tough guys like this.”<\/p>\n The Trojans secured their spot in the title game by answering every Jacksonville State challenge down the stretch.<\/p>\n After the Gamecocks cut the lead to 6-5 in the seventh inning, Little Rock responded immediately in the eighth. Nolan Freund<\/a> drove in a run with a ground out before Nico Baumbach<\/a> delivered a two-out RBI double to right-center, extending the lead to 8-5.<\/p>\n The insurance proved critical as Jacksonville State scored once in the bottom of the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings.<\/p>\n Freshman closer Tag Andrews<\/a> entered with runners aboard in the eighth and once again delivered in a pressure-packed situation. Andrews recorded the final five outs, allowing no hits and striking out one to earn his 13th save of the season.<\/p>\n “He’s just a warm blanket,” Curry said of Andrews. “It’s no secret who the ball is going to in the big moment. I think our only job is to decide when that moment is. We’re trying to shorten the game.”<\/p>\n Just 24 hours after stunning No. 1 regional seed Southern Miss, the Trojans once again showcased their offensive firepower, collecting 14 hits and scoring eight runs against a Jacksonville State club that had scored 15 runs in its regional opener.<\/p>\n Little Rock wasted little time taking control.<\/p>\n Jerdy Lopez<\/a> was hit by a pitch to begin the game and Kade Smith<\/a> followed with a single before Freund delivered an RBI hit to put the Trojans on the board. Baumbach added an RBI single and Ty Rhoades<\/a> brought home another run with a ground out as Little Rock raced to a 3-0 lead in the first inning.<\/p>\n The Gamecocks answered with two runs in the second and another in the fourth to trim the deficit to 4-3, but Little Rock never surrendered the lead.<\/p>\n Freund continued his postseason surge with an RBI double in the second inning, while Blake Simpson<\/a> provided a key cushion in the sixth. Simpson tripled home a run and later scored in the inning as the Trojans stretched the lead to 6-3.<\/p>\n “I played in some big games at [Cloud County Junior College], but I haven’t played on a stage like this,” Freund said. “It’s been a lot of fun. The past couple weeks, we’ve been in positions where we have had nothing to lose. We are just playing pretty free.”<\/p>\n Jacksonville State cut the deficit to one run in the seventh before Little Rock answered with two runs in the eighth.<\/p>\n