RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team picked up its third mid-week win in as many tries on Tuesday afternoon out at Baswell Field as they run-ruled visiting Union, 12-2, in seven innings.
The Wonder Boys' (11-5) offense, which has been on a tear over the last two weeks, continued to be productive against Union as Tech hammered out 16 hits. It marked the seventh time in the last nine games that the Wonder Boys have registered both double-digit hits and double-digit runs.
The offensive onslaught started early against Union as the Wonder Boys scored three runs on five hits while also taking advantage of a pair of Union errors.
Sam Stephenson led things off with a well-placed double down the left field line.
Cade McBride then hit an infield single to short that moved Stephenson to third. Tech then scored their first run of the game as
Sawyer Duddleston grounded into a double play.
Nick Jones and
Keaton Ranallo kept the inning going with consecutive singles.
Logan Schwenke then reached first on a fielding error by the Bulldogs' (7-8) shortstop.
Brandon Bunton then made that error hurt as he singled into centerfield to score Jones and Ranallo. Those were the first of his career-high five RBIs in the game.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second inning turned in by starting pitcher
Ethan Fritz, the Wonder Boys were back to the plate and picked up right where they left off in the first.
In that inning, Stephenson got things going with a one-out single through the left side. Two batters later, Stephenson scored on a RBI double by Duddleston. The Wonder Boys would then have RBI at-bats in each of their next four Abs. Jones had a RBI groundout while Ranallo and Schwenke doubled. Bunton collected his third RBI in the game with a single to left.
The Wonder Boys would go on to be held in somewhat check over the next three innings as they were limited to just one hit.
In the sixth inning, the offense got back on track as they scored three runs on two hits and once more took advantage of a Union error. That inning was started with Jones being hit-by-a-pitch and Ranallo drawing a four-pitch walk.
Ty Gordon then moved them over 90-feet on a groundout to second base. That was in front of Bunton, who singled up the middle for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game. Bunton later scored on a RBI groundout by
Trevor Martin.
Two innings prior to that, Union got on the board and scored their only runs of the game as they scored twice in the top of fifth.
In the bottom of the seventh, Tech positioned themselves for the potential run-rule victory with a McBride single to lead off the inning. Duddleston then reached on a fielder's choice and got to second on a throwing error to put him in scoring position.
Ommar Jackson then pinch-ran for Duddleston at second.
The Wonder Boys then turned to the bench and called upon
Koby Edwards. Edwards would not waste any time and laced a double into left-centerfield to score Jackson and end the game with the 10-run rule.
The Wonder Boys will now turn their attention toward a big weekend series at home against Henderson State. The three-game set is scheduled to start on Friday, March 3 with a first-pitch time of 6 p.m.
