Ethan Rossi’s eighth inning plate appearance represented Eastern’s ability to erase its early deficit.
The junior outfielder fell behind in the count 0-2 with two outs and the tying run at second base before taking the next four pitches he saw, fighting his way back and drawing a walk.
That extended the inning for senior infielder Chris Worcester, who bounced a ground ball back up the middle to tie the game 8-8 and erased a six run deficit.
The Panthers tied the game but came up short to 8-seed Little Rock, losing 9-8 in 10 innings Thursday afternoon at Mtn Dew Park in Marion in the double elimination opener of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
Eastern (29-21, 17-7) had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the game still tied 8-8, junior third baseman Mike O’Conor had an opportunity to hit with runners on second and third and two outs.
O’Conor went after a pitch low in the strike zone and grounded out to the shortstop, ending the inning and stranding two of the 15 runners that Eastern left on base.
The Panthers found themselves trailing 6-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning. Little Rock (22-32, 8-16) scored five runs in the top of the second inning, forcing head coach Jason Anderson to make a pitching change.
“We were in a good spot,” Anderson said. “They were on their third game, and we’ve got our ace on the mound, and they got him after four outs and that put us in a hole.”
Grad left-hander Tyler Kapraun’s outing was over after giving up a three-run home run with one out in the second inning, and he departed having allowed five earned runs on 28 pitches.
Little Rock’s offense has scored nine or more runs in all three of its wins in the tournament so far.
“The park is playing conducive to what we do with our right-handed hitters trying to stay through the middle, and our left-handed hitters trying to stay on the ball,” Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. “I don’t think [Kapraun] had his best stuff today.”
Eastern outscored the Trojans 8-3 from the middle of the second inning onwards and out-hit Little Rock 13-6 in that span as well.
“We left 15 guys on base,” Anderson said. “You’re not going to win any games that way.”
Senior first baseman Tyler Castro drove in a career-high five of the eight runs Eastern scored. Castro had three hits and an RBI in every single one of his official at-bats. He also drew two walks and reached base in all but one of his plate appearances.
“I just hit it where its pitched and hit it hard,” Castro said. “You got to take what they give you and hammer their mistakes.”
Tensions reached a boiling point, nearly resulting in the benches clearing, in the fourth inning. With one out, and Little Rock redshirt senior outfielder Zack Henry tagging up on a shallow fly ball to left field, senior left fielder Brett Stanley fired the ball home on one hop in plenty of time for junior catcher Zak Goodwin to apply the tag.
Henry ran directly into Goodwin, who was angry and got right into Henry’s face before being pushed back to the dugout by pitching coach Max Feske.
Anderson, who was just as irate, pleaded for Henry to be ejected, but after a discussion between the umpires and replay everyone stayed in the game.
“[Henry] should be thrown out for that,” Anderson said. “That’s what they tell us. You’re not supposed to make a collision with the catcher and apparently sometimes the rules don’t matter.”
Henry stayed in the game because the umpires determined that Henry braced for contact prior to hitting Goodwin.
Eastern will play the loser of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Lindenwood in the first elimination game of the double elimination portion of the tournament Thursday evening. First pitch is set for about an hour after the conclusion of that game.
Anderson said senior right-hander Tyler Conklin will be the Panthers’ starting pitcher.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
