Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Keenan Jumper turned in a two-RBI performance in the opening contest, while Kris Ayers had a three-hit, three-RBI performance in the nightcap as the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys baseball team (11-10) salvaged a doubleheader split with Harding, falling 4-3 in the opener but coming back with a 9-5 win in the finale.

Harding put a run on the board on an error in the first inning, but the Wonder Boys rallied to quickly claim the lead in the bottom of the first, using an RBI single by Patrick Castleberry and Jumper's two-run double to claim a 3-1 lead.

However, from that point forward, the Wonder Boys would manage just two more hits, while Harding tacked on a pair of sixth-inning runs to give the Bisons all the cushion they would need in the opening contest.

Starter Zach Skelton was solid, going the distance and scattering five hits over his seven innings of work. He allowed four runs, only two of which were earned, while fanning six.

In the nightcap, the Wonder Boys struck paydirt first, breaking through on an RBI single by Collin O'Neil to take a 1-0 lead. The lead moved to 2-0 as Jumper scored on a wild pitch, and an RBI single by Mark Vaughn, a sacrifice fly by Cole Fergus, and an RBI double by Ayers gave Tech an early 5-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Wonder Boys pitchers were stellar, as five Tech hurlers combined to allow only two hits over the course of the contest.

Josh Ryan (1-0) picked up the win after allowing just one unearned run on one hit, fanning five in four innings of work.

Harding broke through with its first run in the fourth, but the Wonder Boys did some fine insurance work over the next three innings, scoring a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Ayers, two in the fifth on a two-run single by John Lassiter, and a single run in the eighth on a leadoff homer by Ayers.

Harding took advantage of a critical error in the seventh to score four runs, but the insurance provided the Wonder Boys with all the cushion they would need in the nightcap.

O'Neil and Bryan Heward turned in two-hit performances in the win, while Nate Rutherford threw a perfect fifth inning in relief. Ryan Vruggink came in the game in the top of the seventh to shut the door on the Bisons' rally.

Arkansas Tech returns to action on Friday, March 13, traveling to Ada, Okla. to play a three-game Great American Conference series at East Central. Friday's single game
begins at 2 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader is set for a 1 p.m. start.