RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The reigning Great American Conference Regular Season Champion Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys begin their 2022 season with a strong 11-4 win over Missouri Western at Baswell Field. Solid play from pitcher
Patrick Miner and a great day at the plate from third baseman Ty VanMeter propelled the Wonder Boys to a win in their season opener.
Miner quickly got to work on the mound in the top of the first with two straight strikeouts to start his outing. Following a walk on the next hitter, Miner retired the final out of the first with his third K of the afternoon. After a walk for leadoff hitter
Kandon Bennett, VanMeter notched his first of three hits in the game with a single over to right-center field to put Bennett in scoring position on third.
Evan Hafley would reach first on a fielders choice after VanMeter was thrown out at second, but Bennett would score on the play from third to put the Wonder Boys the board.
In the top of the second, Miner got to dealing once again retiring the first two batters with strikeouts. Miner would give up his first hit of the game in the top of the inning with a single to centerfield, but got right back to work with his sixth strikeout of the game to get the Tech hitters back at the plate.
Logan Schwenke would start the hitting for the Wonders Boys in the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle. He then put himself in scoring position quickly stealing second base. Tech would take advantage of their runner at second as
Ommar Jackson hit a long ball out to the depths of right center field for a triple, which allowed Schwenke to score making it a 2-0 Tech lead.
Once again, Miner struck out the first two hitters in the top of the third making it eight total strikeouts, which accounted for all eight outs the Wonder Boys had made so far in the game. The streak would end there however as a pop up to right field would make it the first out in play of the game for Tech. Following a walk by VanMeter, Hafley would be thrown out at second base after his hit while VanMeter would be safe at third. VanMeter would give the Wonder Boys a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third after scoring on a wild pitch.
In the top of the fourth Miner would record his final strikeout of the day on the first batter ending his four innings of work with nine total K's. The Gryffins would walk the first two Tech batters of the bottom, which led to a right field double for
Trevor Martin scoring one run. Jackson would hit a good sac bunt to score the runner at third for the Wonder Boys. A passed ball would bring in Martin to score the third run of the inning. VanMeter would record the final hit of the inning for Arkansas Tech with a long bomb home run to give them a 7-0 lead heading into the fifth inning of action.
The Tech offense would stay quiet the next two innings, but the Gryffins would find some offense scoring their first three runs in those innings that included a triple.
With a 7-3 score heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Wonder Boys were determined to close the game out. Martin would walk, Jackson would advance to first after getting hit by the pitch and Bennett would walk setting up the Wonder Boys with the bases loaded and the hot hitter of the day headed to the plate in VanMeter. VanMeter would deliver for the Wonder Boys with a big time triple to right-center that just barely missed the grand slam mark but nonetheless scored the three baserunners as they extended their lead. VanMeter would score the final run of the game for Arkansas Tech following an error that allowed Hafley to reach second base.
Missouri Western would put up one more run in the top of the ninth, but the Wonder Boys would walk away with an 11-4 victory in their season opener.
The Wonder Boys return to action tomorrow afternoon as they face Mississippi College in a single game at Baswell Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
