Box Score WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The No. 8 seed Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys baseball team (22-29) opened the Great American Conference Tournament with a huge upset win over top-seed Southwestern Oklahoma (33-14) 5-3 Friday afternoon in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
 
Josh Watkins' two-RBI triple in the sixth inning gave the Wonder Boys the lead for good in the back-and-forth game and Zach Skelton pitched a strong 7-2/3 innings to lead the Wonder Boys to the victory.
 
NEXT UP
The Wonder Boys will finish off the best-of-three series with Southwestern Oklahoma tomorrow in Weatherford. The first game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and a potential third game in the series would start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
 
TECH STARTING LINEUP

1. Marcus Wilson (LF)
2. Dylan McDearmon (2B)
3. Kaleb Warden (1B)
4. Josh Watkins (RF)
5. Collin O'Neil (3B)
6. Kyle Love (DH)
7. Connor Brady (SS)
8. Blake King (C)
9. Seth Wheeler (CF)

 
SWOSU STARTING LINEUP

1. Tanner Dearman (CF)
2. Cole Wagner (3B)
3. Korbin Polston (RF)
4. Jacob Spring (LF)
5. Zach Barton (DH)
6. Trent Troxell (1B)
7. Justin Freeman (C)
8. C.J. Faddis (2B)
9. Haden Houska (SS)

 
SCORING PLAYS

• Tech 2^nd - C. Brady singled through the left side, RBI (0-1 K); K. Love advanced to second; C. O'Neil scored. (Tech 1, SWOSU 0)
• SWOSU 2^nd - T. Troxell flied out to cf, SF, RBI (1-2 FFB); Z. Barton advanced to third; J. Spring scored. (Tech 1, SWOSU 1)
• Tech 4^th - K. Love grounded out to 2b, RBI (2-2 FKFBB); J. Watkins scored.  (Tech 2, SWOSU 1)
• SWOSU 5^th - Z. Barton doubled to left center, RBI (1-1 KB); K. Polston scored. (Tech 2, SWOSU 2)
• Tech 6^th - J. Watkins tripled to left center, 2 RBI (0-0); K. Warden scored; D. McDearmon scored, unearned. (Tech 4, SWOSU 2)
• SWOSU 8^th - H. Houska hit by pitch, RBI (2-1 BKB); CJ Faddis advanced to second; J. Baxley advanced to third; Z. Barton scored. (Tech 4, SWOSU 3)
• Tech 9^th - C. Brady stole second; T. Stokes stole home. (Tech 5, SWOSU 3)

 
OF RECORD

• Winning Pitcher: Zach Skelton (5-6)
• Losing Pitcher: Jon Chidester (8-5)
• Save: Ryan Vruggink (1)

 
NOTABLES

• Watkins led Tech by going 2-for-4 from the plate with two RBIs and a run scored.
• Zach Skelton picked up the win, pitching 7-2/3 innings and giving up just three runs on four hits with seven walks and 10 strikeouts.
• Connor Brady went 2-for-4 from the plate with an RBI. Brady also stole second base in the ninth inning on a double steal play that allowed Tate Stokes to score to give the Wonder Boys a two-run lead going to the bottom of the ninth.
• Ryan Vruggink picked up his first save of the season, pitching 1-1/3 innings and striking out four of the five batters he faced.