Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MONTICELLO, Ark. — Caleb McKinnon turned in a 4-for-5 performance, driving in a pair of runs, while Cole Fergus went 2-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys baseball team to a 12-0 win in the opening contest of a doubleheader with Arkansas-Monticello, as the two teams split a doubleheader played today.

After the 12-0 win in the opener, UAM came back to take an 8-1 win in the series finale.

The hit parade started early in the opener for the Wonder Boys (18-14, 6-8 Great American Conference) as Tech loaded the bases with none out. After UAM managed two quick outs, Cole Fergus blasted a no-doubt grand slam to left-center, giving Arkansas Tech the early 4-0 lead.  

An RBI double by McKinnon in the top of the second pushed the Wonder Boys' lead to 5-0, and the Wonder Boys struck with another big inning in the fourth to further extend the lead. An RBI single by Kris Ayers started the scoring, and an RBI double by Patrick Castleberry pushed Tech's lead to 7-0. After Ayers scored on a passed ball, a two-run single by Collin O'Neil gave Tech a 10-0 lead in the top of the fourth.

Meanwhile, starter Trent Armstrong was off to a solid start, retiring the first nine hitters he faced and not allowing the first UAM baserunner and hit until the fourth inning.

Tech tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh, while Armstrong continued to hold the Weevils (12-10, 9-7 GAC) off the board, going the distance in a run-rule shutout win.

Armstrong improved to 3-1 on the season after scattering five hits in seven innings of work, walking only one and fanning five.

The nightcap looked to be a pitchers' duel at the beginning, as UAM starter Austin Braddock and Tech starter Aaron Johnson matched one another pitch-for-pitch through the first two innings of the contest.

After Johnson retired the first two hitters he saw in the third, things went south for the senior as he surrendered a hit batsman and three consecutive walks, allowing UAM to take a 1-0 lead, and a two-run single followed that pushed UAM's lead to 3-0. Johnson was lifted in favor of reliever Ethan Taylor, and UAM would manage one more run in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

A grand slam the next inning doubled the Boll Weevils' advantage to 8-0, and UAM would need no more offense.

Tech was able to get on the board in the sixth, as Fergus' RBI single scored the Wonder Boys' lone run of the contest.

The Wonder Boys return to action on Tuesday, March 31, as they travel to Shawnee, Oklahoma for a single game with Oklahoma Baptist, the current No. 1 team in the NAIA. Oklahoma Baptist won its first 30 games of the season before dropping two of three to Oklahoma City University this past weekend to fall to 30-2.

Tech returns to Russellville this weekend for a three-game set with Southern Arkansas on Friday and Saturday.