WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The No. 20-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team overcame deficits in each of Saturday's doubleheader games at Southwestern Oklahoma to put the finishing touches on a series sweep. It was the fourth series sweep of the year for the Wonder Boys.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys (22-9, 15-3 GAC) fell behind 4-0 through one inning of play as the Bulldogs (14-15, 8-10 GAC) plated four runs on four hits in the frame. The early offense by SWOSU chased Tech's starter
Marshall Brown and brought in
Jack Rector in relief.
Rector would go on to settle the game down for the Wonder Boys over the next two innings as he did not allow a run in the second and third innings. His work on the mound allowed the Wonder Boys' offense to make its impact on the game.
The first run of the game for Tech came across in the second inning as
Markos Cabranes grounded out to shortstop to score
Keaton Ranallo, who tripled to right-centerfield in the previous at-bat.
In the fourth, the Wonder Boys scored four runs of their own to take a 5-4 lead. That inning saw
Sawyer Duddleston lead off with a hit-by-a-pitch and
Nick Jones move him to third on a single in the next-at-bat. Following an out, Cabranes collected his second RBI of the game with a single to centerfield. Two batters later,
Logan Schwenke provided the big swing with a three-run home run out to right-centerfield.
That lead was short-lived however as SWOSU scored twice in their half of the fourth to flip the advantage to a run in their favor, 6-5.
Tech's offense was undeterred and came back in the next half inning and scored three runs to go back ahead, 8-6. The big hit in the inning was a three-run home run off the bat of Jones. SWOSU would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, but it ended up being their final run of the game as
Grant Shahan, who came on finish out the fifth, dominated the last 4.1 innings of the game to pick up his first save of the year.
With Shahan throwing zeros, the Wonder Boys added three more runs over the final three innings of the game to bring their total to 11. Two of the runs scored in the seventh with Duddleston and Ranallo hitting solo homers, while the third run scored in the eighth on a single by
Sam Stephenson.
GAME TWO
Unlike the first game, the Wonder Boys jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to a two-run double by
Nick Jones and a RBI single by
Markos Cabranes.
Unfortunately, Tech would find itself trailing after the first inning again as SWOSU scored four runs in their half of the first inning. Like in the first game, the Wonder Boys were forced to turn to their bullpen to get out of the inning, this time calling upon their closer
Mason Griffin.
In his previous eight appearances, Griffin had only pitched one inning each time. Now he was tasked with getting multiple innings logged against SWOSU. The move proved to be a great one as Griffin went on to pitch the next 5.2 innings in dominant fashion. In his time on the mound, Griffin allowed just one run on two hits, walked one and struck out seven. The run scoring off Griffin was the first he has allowed this season.
Like it played out in the opener, the bullpen holding the SWOSU offense at bat allowed for the offense to eventually make its mark.
That eventuality came in the top of the sixth after neither team scored over innings 2-5. In that top of the sixth, Tech struck for four runs on four hits while also taking advantage of a SWOSU error.
Brandon Bunton led off the inning with a triple to right field.
Logan Schwenke then drove him in with a single through the left side. Three batters later, the bases were loaded with one out.
Sawyer Duddleston then singled home two Jones then picked up a RBI on a fielder's choice.
An inning later, the Wonder Boys scored two more runs of insurance to push ahead 9-4. In that inning,
Cade McBride had a RBI single and Duddleston a sacrifice fly.
Griffin went back out for the final half inning, but recorded just one out before being relieved by
Will Horton. After allowing a RBI double for SWOSU's final run of the game, Horton got a pair of groundouts to second base to put the finishing touches on the win and series sweep.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will remain on the road for their mid-week game as they head to Arkadelphia to take on Henderson State this coming Tuesday, March 28. First-pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
