ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The No. 20-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team ran their winning streak to a season-high seven games after a 7-6 win in game one of Saturday afternoon's doubleheader at Ouachita, but saw that streak snapped in the nightcap as Ouachita won 11-3.
The decisive third game of the series is scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys (16-6, 9-2 GAC) struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Both runs were unearned and scored without the benefit of a hit.
Cade McBride led off the inning with a walk. He then took second on a wild pitch.
Shane Poe followed with an infield single to third base. McBride and Poe advanced 90-feet during the next at-bat thanks to a passed ball by Ouachita's catcher.
After the initial out of the inning was made, both McBride and Poe advanced on the base path once more on a passed ball. This time, it would score McBride and put Poe at third with out.
Nick Jones then cashed in Poe with a sacrifice fly hit out to left field.
In the bottom of the frame, however, the Tigers (11-7, 6-5 GAC) responded with two runs of their own, also without the benefit of a hit. In the blink of an eye, Ouachita had the bases loaded with no outs. Tech starter
John Gray then got a strikeout for the first out before a hit-by-pitch and sacrifice fly accounted for the two runs.
The Tigers then grabbed a two-run lead of their own in the bottom of the second as they put together a two-out rally that yielded a pair of runs. Tech was able to get one of those runs back in the top of the third as
Keaton Ranallo singled home McBride, who previously led off the inning with a double to right.
After neither team scored in the fourth, the Wonder Boys got the big hit in the game in the top of fifth.
Sawyer Duddleston led off the inning with a single up the middle, but was quickly erased on a fielder's choice in the Jones at-bat. Ranallo followed with a hit-by-pitch to put two on with one out in front of
Logan Schwenke. After taking a pitch, Schwenke went opposite field with pop and muscled out a three-run home run to put Tech in the lead, 6-4.
Gray then returned to the mound and hung zeros in the fifth and sixth innings to conclude his time on the bump and put himself in line for the win.
In the top of the seventh, the Wonder Boys would add a run of insurance thanks to a clutch two-out RBI off the bat of
Markos Cabranes. Jones led the inning off with a hit-by-pitch and was quickly followed with a single to left field by Ranallo. After a pair of strikeouts, Cabranes singled up the middle for the insurance run.
Ouachita would rally in their half of the seventh and pushed across two runs, but it could have been more if not for the head's up defensive play by Cabranes behind the plate. With the bases loaded and two outs, the Tigers got a big hit on a single through the left side that scored the two runs, but on the play, the Tiger runner on first got hung up in-between second and third base as Cabranes came up the line to field the throw from Duddleston in left.
With the runner hung up, Cabranes threw to shortstop McBride, who proceeded to run down the runner and end the inning.
That proved to be the biggest play of the game as there was no further scoring the rest of the way out.
A trio of relievers backed up Gray in the start with
Grant Shahan pitching 1.1 innings,
Will Horton 0.2 innings and
Mason Griffin efficiently handling the ninth inning and earning his fifth save of the season.
GAME TWO
The night cap saw the Tigers jump out to a 3-0 lead through the first inning. The Wonder Boys got all but one of those runs back in their half of the second inning with a pair of unearned runs, but Ouachita responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to regain a three-run lead.
Ouachita then struck for four runs in the fourth to take a 9-2 lead. A bases loaded walk drawn by Duddleston in the sixth forced home the Wonder Boys' third and final run. Ouachita added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to its final tally of 11-3.
