WARRENSBURG, Mo. – A back-and-forth affair ended up not going the way of the Arkansas Tech baseball team as the No. 4-ssed Wonder Boys dropped the opening game of 2021 NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament to No. 3-seed Minnesota State-Mankato by a score of 9-8 on Friday afternoon.
 
In the game, the Wonder Boys (28-16) got on the board first and held a 2-0 lead through two and a half innings of play thanks to a solo home run by Evan Hafley in the top of the first and a RBI double by Matt Robbins.
 
Minnesota State, however, jumped ahead in the bottom of the third on what ended up being the first of two three-run home runs that the Mavericks (38-8) would hit in the game. The Mavericks then struck for a pair of unearned runs in the fourth push their lead out to three runs, 5-2.
 
In the next half inning, the Wonder Boys got those runs back on the strength of a two-run home run off the bat of Garrett Crews. In the bottom half of the inning, Wonder Boys starter Patrick Miner, who earlier in the game became the new single-season strikeout king at Tech with his 102^nd strikeout of the season, retired the first two batters before loading the bases with three-consecutive walks. Fortunately for Miner and the Wonder Boys, he was able to get out of the inning without giving up a run.
 
That allowed the Wonder Boys to push across the tying run in the top of the sixth. Josh Detweiler led off the inning with a single to left field facing a reliever in Jon Ludwig. Trace Maddux then followed with a walk. Following a flyout, Detweiler and Maddux advanced 90-feet on a passed ball. That set the stage for Kandon Bennett to lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt to the right side to score Detweiler and knot the game at five-all.
 
A half inning later, the Mavericks took advantage of a passed ball themselves as they scored on one with two outs to regain the lead, 6-5.
 
In the top of the seventh, Crews and Robbins had consecutive one-out singles to put the pressure on. Each batter advanced a base during the ensuing at-bat on a ground out to second base. With runners at second and third and two outs, Ludwig went to the windup. The Wonder Boys then rolled the dice and attempted a straight double steal with Crews looking to swipe home. That bold move paid off as while Crews was dead to rights at the plate, a balk was called, allowing both Crews and Robbins to advance 90-feet, scoring Crews and tying the game.
 
With the score tied for a second time, the Mavericks would hit their second three-run home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh to push ahead once more by three runs, 9-6.
 
In the top of the eighth, the Wonder Boys threatened and loaded the bases with no outs on a walk to Maddux, a hit-by-pitch to Jonathon Arrieta and a single to right by Bennett. Nothing, unfortunately came of that threat as the Mavericks got a foul out and an inning-ending double play to escape the jam unscathed.
 
Armando Romero, who came on in relief and got the final out of the seventh inning held the Mavericks off the scoreboard in the eighth to send the game to the ninth with the Wonder Boys trailing by three.
 
In the top of the ninth, Crews led off with a single through the left side. That hit was the fourth of the game for Crews. Following a fly out, Hafley brought the Wonder Boys within a run as he hammered a no-doubt home run out left-centerfield, his second homer of the game. The Wonder Boys would make outs in the next two at-bats, however, and the game ended with Minnesota State holding on for a 9-8 win.
 
The Wonder Boys now fall in to the loser's bracket and will face elimination on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.. Their opponent will be the winner of the game between No. 1-seed Central Missouri and No. 6-seed Henderson State, a game currently in progress.