RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team picked up a big mid-week win at home on Wednesday night as they out-slugged No. 16-ranked Henderson State and beat the Reddies by a score of 12-6.
Henderson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, scoring the run against opener
Evan Hafley. In the bottom of the inning, however, Hafley helped his own cause as he drove in a pair of runs on a double to left field, scoring
Kandon Bennett and
Trace Maddux.
In the top of the third, with
Hunter Ford now on the mound, the Reddies (19-6) regained the lead as they scored two runs on two hits. As they did in the first, the Wonder Boys (15-8) had a quick response and plated three runs on four hits to go up 5-3.
The first run that inning was the product of speed as
Sam Stephenson reached on an infield single to third base with one out. He then quickly stole second base, which allowed him to score easily on a RBI single to right field off the bat of Maddux.
Yadier Medina then followed with a single up the middle that moved Maddux to third.
Following a strikeout,
Sawyer Duddleston drove in Maddux on a single to right field. Medina was also able to take third on the play. During the next at-bat, the Wonder Boys pulled off a successful first and third steal of home as Duddleston was able to get in a rundown long enough for Medina to score before the final out.
The planned bullpen game continued for the Wonder Boys as the third pitcher of the game took the mound for the fourth inning. The Reddies took advantage of the new arm and scored three runs in that frame to go back on top, 6-5.
That proved to be last bit of offense that the Reddies would be able to generate against the remainder of the relief pitchers that the Wonder Boys pitched over the final five innings.
That stretch saw
Marshall Brown pitch the fifth and sixth innings,
Grant Shahan the seventh and
John Walsh the eighth and ninth. Those three combined to allow no runs on just two hits with nine strikeouts over the final five innings of play. All three registered multiple strikeouts with Walsh racking up five in his 2.0 innings of work.
While the bullpen dominated the latter part of the game for the Wonder Boys, the offense also flexed its muscle as they scored seven runs on seven hits from the bottom of the fifth inning through the bottom of the eighth.
In that stretch, the Wonder Boys hit three home runs. Maddux and Hafley hit solo home runs in the fifth, while Medina connected on a two-run home run in the seventh.
Ommar Jackson added a RBI on a bases loaded walk in the seventh. An inning later, Medina drove in the final two runs of the game on a double.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare to hit the road this weekend as they travel to Shawnee, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Baptist in a three-game Great American Conference series. The series is slated to begin Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
