DURANT, Okla. – The No. 14-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team split their Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Southeastern Oklahoma winning the first game 15-2 in a shortened seven-inning game and dropping the finale, 11-4. The DH split gave Southeastern the series victory, two games to one.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys (5-3, 1-2 GAC) wasted little time in getting their bats going as they scored four runs on four hits in the top of the second inning to jet out to a 4-0 lead. To start that inning,
Yadier Medina and
Shelby Quiggins hit back-to-back home runs, both out to left field. Just a day earlier, Medina and Quiggins went back-to-back.
Later in the frame,
Ommar Jackson drew a two-out walk that sparked an elongated rally that brought five more batters to plate following his base on balls. With Jackson on first,
Kandon Bennett singled to right field.
Ty Van Meter then walked to load the bases. A hit-by-pitch to
Evan Hafley forced home Jackson for the third run of the inning.
Trace Maddux then singled home Bennet with a knock to right field.
Southeastern got one of those runs back leading off the bottom of the second on a solo home run.
A scoreless third inning gave way to another big inning for the Wonder Boys as they scored five runs, but needed only one hit as they were issued four walks and took advantage of a pair of wild pitches.
Jackson was once more the start of that rally as he drew a leadoff walk. Bennett followed with the lone hit of the innings on a single to left field. Three-straight walks issued to Van Meter, Hafley and Maddux forced in a pair of runs. Van Meter then scored on a wild pitch. Hafley crossed in the next at-bat on a Medina RBI groundout. The second wild pitch of the inning scored Maddux and gave the Wonder Boys a commanding 9-1 lead.
The Savage Storm (9-3, 2-1 GAC) would then plate their second and final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth.
The Wonder Boys continued to score runs in their remaining at-bats en route to the run-rule victory, plating one run in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh.
GAME TWO
The offensive punch by the Wonder Boys in the opener carried over through the first inning of game two as Tech scored three runs on three hits. In that inning, Bennett led off with a walk. Van Meter followed with a single and both moved up 90 feet on a groundout by Hafley. Maddux then drove in both on a double to left-center. Following a single by Medina, Maddux scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Quiggins.
The Savage Storm went quietly in order in the bottom of the first, but tied the game at three-all in the second inning with three runs on three hits. An inning later, Southeastern grabbed the lead. In the fourth, the Storm seized control of the game with a five-run inning.
Tech got a run back in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Bennett, but Southeastern added two more runs in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to its eventual final of 11-4.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will now return home and prepare for a four-game homestand this week starting with a non-conference game against Henderson State on Tuesday, February 22. First-pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. out at Baswell Field.
