ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team split their Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Henderson State, winning the opener 10-8 and dropping the second game 11-0.
GAME ONE
The Wonder Boys (19-15, 12-12 GAC) struck first in the opener scoring a single run in the top of the second inning. That opening salvo saw
Kandon Bennett collect a RBI on a single to centerfield, scoring
Evan Hafley, who led off that inning with a hit-by-pitch.
Henderson State pushed across their first runs of the game in the bottom of the third when they scored twice to take a 2-1 lead. A half inning later, however, the score was tied at two-all as
Sawyer Duddleston delivered a sacrifice fly scoring Yadier Media, who led off that inning with a single through the left side.
After holding the Reddies (25-11, 15-9 GAC) scoreless in the fourth, the Wonder Boys started to pull away with a four-run top of the fifth inning.
In that inning,
Trace Maddux led off with a single to left, but was erased in the next at-bat on a fielder's choice in the
Josh Detweiler at-bat. Consecutive singles from Hafley and Medina followed and loaded the bases with one out.
Shelby Quiggins then drove in the first run of the frame on a single to right-centerfield. That chased HSU starter Cade Tucker.
Facing a new arm, Bennett picked up his second RBI of the game on an infield single to third.
Carter Thessing was then hit-by-a-pitch to force home the third run of the inning. Duddleston then collected his second RBI of the game as well on a groundout that scored Quiggins.
In their half of the fifth, the Reddies returned fire and plated three runs on four hits, cutting the short-lived four-run lead to a single run, 6-5. The surge by the Reddies chased Tech starter
Will Horton from the mound, but
Armando Romero was able to stem the tide and keep the Wonder Boys in front.
That slim one-run lead doubled during the Wonder Boys' next trip to the plate as Hafley connected for a two-out solo home run out to right-centerfield.
The lead then reached a peak of five runs, 10-5, as the Wonder Boys scored three runs in the top of the eighth. In that inning, Tech scored on a throwing error by the Reddies' centerfielder, on a RBI single from Medina and on a wild pitch.
Those runs proved to be vastly important as Henderson scored a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to make things interesting, but redshirt freshman
Marshall Brown was able to put the finishing touches on game and secured his first career save.
GAME TWO
The rubber game of the series was all Henderson State as they held the Wonder Boys scoreless on offense with just four hits in the scheduled seven-inning finale. On their offensive end, the Reddies scored 11 runs on 13 hits and took advantage of three Tech errors.
In the finale, the Reddies scored a run in four of their six trips to the plate with multiple runs coming home in three of those innings.
Henderson started with three runs in the first, added four in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead. They added a final run in the sixth to bring the score its final of 11-0
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for their fifth-straight road game as they are scheduled to play at Arkansas-Monticello for a non-conference mid-week game on Tuesday, April 12. First-pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
