RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The No. 20-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team had the ball find the ground when it mattered most in extra innings resulting in them beating Northwestern Oklahoma, 6-5, in 11 innings on Friday night.
That moment came with runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the 11
th inning. On what appeared to be an infield flyball that would have sent the game deeper into extra innings, the Wonder Boys (17-7, 10-3 GAC) soon celebrated in jubilation as the ball was dropped by the Northwestern Oklahoma first baseman, allowing
Keaton Ranallo to score the game-winning run.
Earlier in the inning, Ranallo led off with a single through the left side. Two batters later, he advanced to second as
Brandon Bunton laid down a successful bunt single. Ranallo then moved to third base on a deep flyout to right field off the bat of
Markos Cabranes, putting him in position to easily score on the dropped fly ball.
Prior to the events of the 11
th, the game did not see its first run until the top of the third when the Rangers (13-12, 6-7 GAC) hit a two-out solo home run. Just before the homer, Tech starter
John Gray got a pitcher's best friend as his defense turned a 6-4-3 double play to erase a leadoff walk.
The Wonder Boys responded to that initial run with two of their own in the bottom of the third. The inning started with two-consecutive walks to
Shane Poe and
Sawyer Duddleston. After a fielder's choice took Poe off the base paths, the Wonder Boys scored their first run after Ranallo singled through the left side.
That hit initially didn't score a run, but an errant throw by NWOSU's left fielder to third base allowed Duddleston to score. Two batters later, Bunton singled home
Nick Jones for Tech's second run. A half inning later, NWOSU took a two-run lead thanks to a three-run fourth inning. Two of the three runs were unearned, but the Rangers led nonetheless.
Their lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth the Wonder Boys scored twice to tie the game at four-all. In that inning, Poe hit a one-out single and then stole second base. Duddleston followed with a triple the other way down the right field to chase home Poe. Two batters later, Ranallo singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw to drive in Duddleston.
In the next half inning, NWOSU plated a run on a sacrifice fly to take another lead. The Wonder Boys were able to tie the game up in their half of the seventh as an errant throw by the Rangers' shortstop went out of play, allowing Cabranes to score from second after he led off with a double to left-center.
Neither team scored in the eighth and ninth innings, pushing the game into extra innings.
In the 10th, both teams were retired in order with each pitcher striking out two. The reliever on the mound during that time for Tech was
Will Horton. The 10
th inning was his second on the mound as he came on in relief of reliver
Grant Shahan with one out in the ninth. Horton would go on to pick up the win, his third, after he pitched the final 2.2 innings with just one hit allowed, no walks and four strikeouts.
Northwestern appeared to push the advantage in their favor in the top of the 11
th as the leadoff batter reached first on a throwing error by Tech's third baseman. Back to the top of the order, the Rangers attempted to push the runner into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. The attempt was successful, but the Rangers' runner got hung up between second and third and was eventually thrown out at third base for an unconventional double play.
Horton then got a swinging strikeout of the next batter to end the inning and send the game to the bottom of the 11
th where the aforementioned game-winning theatrics took place to give Tech the win.
The series will now conclude on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
