HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – For the second time in just over a 12-hour period, the Arkansas Tech baseball team won an elimination game to stay alive in the 2022 Great American Conference Baseball Tournament by beating No. 6-seed Oklahoma Baptist by a score of 11-6 on Monday morning.
With the win, the Wonder Boys will play again later in the afternoon on Monday and will rematch with top-seeded Southern Arkansas. Scheduled first-pitch for the game is slated for 3:50 p.m.
Similar to their elimination game win on Sunday night against No. 4-seed Southeastern Oklahoma, the Wonder Boys (27-22) had their offense rolling.
Against Oklahoma Baptist, the Wonder Boys opened the top of the first inning with five runs on three hits.
Sam Stephenson led off the inning with a single to left and then took second on a stolen base. A walk to
Trace Maddux and
Yadier Medina loaded the bases with one out. With the bases loaded, Stephenson scored the first run on a wild pitch.
Shelby Quiggins then drove in a pair of runs on a single down the right field line. With Quiggins on,
Evan Hafley unloaded on a mammoth no-doubt two-run home run to left.
The Bison (27-22), however answered right back in the bottom of the inning with a five-spot of their own.
Undeterred with the game suddenly tied through an inning of play and 10 total runs already home, the Wonder Boys' offense got right back to business and scored four runs on three hits in the top of the second to go back up 9-5.
That inning saw Stephenson and Maddux collect RBI singles,
Josh Detweiler a RBI double and Quiggins a RBI sacrifice fly.
Oklahoma Baptist got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run, but that would be all they would be able to score as Tech starter
Armando Romero settled in and started to rack up outs. He would end up pitching 7.0 innings and gave the Wonder Boys an iron man effort that will not be easily matched anytime soon.
Quiggins then pitched the final two innings and allowed just two hits, one walk and struck out two.
As Romero and Quiggins were holding the Bison scoreless, the offense added single tallies in the fifth and ninth innings. The run in the fifth was a solo home run by
Ty Van Meter while the run in the ninth was a fielder's choice RBI for Quiggins.
