ALVA, Okla. – Another windy day led to a pair of lopsided games as the Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma baseball teams concluded their weekend series on Saturday with a doubleheader.
The opener went the way of NWOSU, 19-3, while the finale was won by Tech, 21-5.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Rangers (20-26, 13-17 GAC) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first. The Wonder Boys (24-18, 15-14 GAC) answered back their next time to the plate with a pair of runs on a two-run home run off the bat of
Evan Hafley.
Neither team scored their next trips to the plate with NWOSU being blanked in the bottom of the second and Tech blanked in the top of third.
The game broke open in a big way in the bottom of the third, however, as the Rangers scored nine runs on seven hits while also taking advantage of a Tech error. That monster inning suddenly gave the Rangers a 10-run lead.
That lead then only grew as the continued to hold the Wonder Boys off the scoreboard over the next three innings. During that time, NWOSU tacked on a run in the fourth, four in the fifth and two more in the sixth to bring their total to 19 runs.
The Wonder Boys got their third and final of the game in the top of the seventh on a pinch-hit two-out solo home run by
Sawyer Duddleston.
GAME TWO
Fortunes changed for the Wonder Boys in the second game of the doubleheader as this time it was them who jumped out to a big lead with three runs in the top of the first and five runs in the top of the second.
The runs by the Wonder Boys in the inning scored with
Trace Maddux taking home on an error by the NWOSU shortstop in the
Josh Detweiler at-bat. A batter later, two more runs scored on a single to centerfield by Hafley.
That lead was preserved with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first. That allowed the Wonder Boys to get back to the plate and in the top of the second, they did not let up with five runs on four hits in the inning.
That inning was sparked by a one-out single by Maddux.
Yadier Medina then singled and was followed up with a walk to Detweiler to load the bases.
Shelby Quiggins then picked up a RBI the hard way with a hit-by-pitch. In the ensuing at-bat, Hafley once more singled home two with a ball into centerfield. Following a fielder's choice, freshman
Luke Ray collected his first collegiate RBI with a single to centerfield.
The Rangers got just one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame, but still trailed by seven after two innings of play.
In the third, the Wonder Boys put up another crooked number with three runs on just one hit. That one hit, in fact, scored all three runs as Quiggins hit a three-run shot. NWOSU got a solo home run in the bottom of the inning to make it an 11-2 game.
Neither team scored in the fourth, but the Wonder Boys went back at it in the fifth with three more runs on three hits. The long ball once more played a factor in all runs scoring as Media hit a solo homer while Quiggins connected for a two-run bomb.
Another solo home run by NWOSU came in the bottom of the fifth, but the game was put completely out of reach by the Wonder Boys in the top of the sixth as they scored six runs on four hits and took advantage of a Rangers' error.
That inning saw Maddux collect a two-RBI single and Detweiler get three RBIs on a single. The sixth run of the inning scored on a double play turned by the Rangers.
An inning later, the Wonder Boys pushed across their 21
st run of the game on a fielder's choice RBI by
Logan Schwenke.
The beneficiary of the all the offense was
Shane Scott. The Wonder Boys starter got his fourth win of the year after pitching 5.0 innings. He would scatter seven hits, allow three runs, walk one and strikeout three.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will now head home for one final regular season home game this coming Tuesday against Union. The non-conference game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch out at Baswell Field.
