CLEVELAND, Miss. – The No. 20-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team was unable to overcome an early deficit on Wednesday and lost on the road to Delta State by a score of 14-8.
After retiring the Wonder Boys (19-9) in order in the top of the first inning, the Statesmen (14-13) would strike for five runs in the bottom of the frame to race out to the early lead. The big blow in that inning was a two-out bases-clearing double.
An inning later, the Statesmen added a pair of runs on the strength of a two-run home run.
The Wonder Boys were able to crack the scoreboard in the top of the fourth and did damage themselves with bases loaded. The first run of the frame scored on a walk drawn by
Brady Prince.
Sam Stephenson then singled home two runs, but an out on the basepaths ended the inning.
Delta got all of those runs back in their half of the fourth to make the score 10-3.
Tech scored twice in the top of the fifth on a two-run pinch-hit double by
Aaron Hogue, but once more the Statesmen were able to answer the scoring in their trip to the plate, negating any traction the Wonder Boys were trying to establish.
The sixth inning saw the final runs score in the game with Tech plating three in the top half and Delta State pushing across two. For Tech, two of the runs scored on a double by
Keaton Ranallo. The third scored on a wild pitch.
The Wonder Boys will now turn their attention to their weekend series at Southwestern Oklahoma. The three-game set is scheduled to begin Friday, March 24 at 2 p.m. and conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon.
