RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team secured their ninth-straight trip to the upcoming Great American Conference Tournament and did so in dramatic fashion with a three-run walk-off home run to upend Northwestern Oklahoma, 6-5, on Monday afternoon out at Baswell Field.
 
The win for the Wonder Boys (21-13, 18-9 GAC) salvaged a game in the series and snapped a five-game winning streak for Northwestern Oklahoma.
 
Down to their last out, of the game and facing a possible sweep, the Wonder Boys started their game-winning rally with a solid single through the left side by Garrett Crews. Matt Robbins then followed it up with a seeing-eye single up the middle.
 
With the tying run now on base and the potential winning run at the plate, NWOSU turned to their bullpen for closer Kaleb Honea. Just a day ago, Honea saved both ends of the doubleheader and is currently leading all of NCAA Division II in saves with 10. First to face Honea was Jonathon Arrieta, who came on defensively at first base a half inning prior. After an empty swing on the first offering by Honea, Arrieta unloaded on the next pitch and blasted the walk-off home run deep into left field and well over the roof of the new Multi-Sports Complex.
 
The home run was the seventh of the season for Arrieta, tying him for the team-lead with Josh Detwiler, who homered earlier in the game, and Evan Hafley. It also put Arrieta back in the team-lead for RBIs as he now has 34.
 
Prior to the heroics of Arrieta in the ninth, not a whole lot was going the way of the Wonder Boys on Monday. In fact, it would not be until the bottom of the sixth that they would register their first hit of the game. By then, the Rangers (22-12, 17-10 GAC) had opened up a 4-0 lead.
 
Nothing came of the first hit of the game for the Wonder Boys and a half inning later, NWOSU took a 5-0 lead on a solo home run out to right field.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, after a rousing call-to-action of the Baswell Field faithful for "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" by the PA announcer, the Wonder Boys fortunes began to turn for the good and were sparked by the aforementioned home run by Detweiler leading off the frame.
 
Trace Maddux followed with a single to right. Gabriel Garcia and Stormy Taylor then drew walks to load the based. A third-consecutive walk was issued to Kandon Bennett to force home the second run for the Wonder Boys. Following a strikeout for the first out, Crews drew another walk to force home the third run of the inning. In the ensuing at-bat, tough luck struck the Wonder Boys similar to the day prior as Robbins lined into a double play to end the inning.
 
Will Horton, who came on in relief and got the final out of the seventh, worked a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning. The Wonder Boys would threaten again in the bottom of the eighth, but were held scoreless.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Wonder Boys turned to their closer Nick Kovar to keep the score right where it was. Kovar would do just that and got some help from his defense as they turned an inning-ending double play to erase a one-out walk.
 
The work by Horton and Kovar on the mound set the stage for what would come; a walk-off three-run home run by Arrieta.
 
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for another home series this coming weekend as they play host to Harding as part of the GAC's Rivalry Weekend. The three-game series is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 30.