Little Rock beats Dallas Baptist 8-6 to reach the regional final in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Ty Rhoades launched a three-run homer in the first inning, Angel Cano added a two-run shot in the fourth, and Little Rock beat Dallas Baptist 8-6 on Sunday in the Baton Rouge Regional.

Little Rock (26-33) will play LSU in the championship game on Sunday night. The Trojans will need to beat the Tigers twice to reach the super regional.

DBU put runners on the corners with two outs in the fourth before an RBI single by Michael Dattalo and a wild pitch gave the Patriots their first lead at 4-3.

But Cano’s shot put Little Rock back in front and solo home runs by Reed Willbanks and Zach Henry in the fourth and fifth innings extended the lead to 7-4.

In the ninth, Blake Van Cleave came on in relief with a runner on and retired the next three hitters to pick up his third save. Hunter Royal got two key outs in the fourth for his third win of the season.

Dallas Baptist (41-18) starter Rian Schwede (4-2) allowed six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Keaton Grady, who went 3 for 4, led the Patriots with seven hits during the regional. Nathan Humphreys finished his DBU career with 226 hits, 10th most in program history.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports