MONTICELLO, Ark. – The No. 18-ranked Arkansas Tech baseball team split their Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Arkansas-Monticello with a bounce-back win in the second game, 5-3, behind a sensational pitching performance by
Emiliano Mata.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys (23-11, 16-4 GAC) got off to a great start offensively with three runs in the top of the first inning and held a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth thanks to a single run in the third and three more in the fourth.
The big hit for the Wonder Boys in the opener was a two-RBI double down the left field line off the bat of
Nick Jones. Two batters later,
Markos Cabranes hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate the third run of the inning.
In the third, Jones led off with a double to centerfield. Three batters later, with two outs,
Logan Schwenke came through with a clutch RBI single through the left side of the infield to chase home Jones.
The top of the fourth started in a similar fashion as
Sam Stephenson led off with a double. This time, the Wonder Boys struck for runs before making any outs.
Cade McBride followed Stephenson's double with a single through the right side to put runners on the corners. During the next at-bat, Stephenson scored on a wild pitch. Later in that AB,
Sawyer Duddleston unloaded on a two-run homerun to left field, staking the Wonder Boys to the aforementioned 7-0 lead.
UAM began its comeback effort in the bottom of the fourth, however, and scored their first two runs of the game. The Boll Weevils (19-13, 11-9 GAC) went on to add a run in the fifth and three in the sixth to pull to within a run.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Boll Weevils completed their comeback and snagged their first lead of the game on a two-run home run by Chaz Poppy. The Wonder Boys were able to tie the game back up in the top of the eighth on a Duddleston RBI double, but UAM struck for four runs in the bottom of the eighth to go back up and secure the win.
GAME TWO
The second game of the day played out pretty opposite of the first and was a pitcher's duel throughout most of it with Tech's
Emiliano Mata and UAM's Mason Philley going pitch-for-pitch.
The two would each pitch 6.0 innings and register double-digit strikeouts, but ultimately it was Mata and his 11 strikeouts, who was able to win the duel thanks to a five-run top of the seventh inning.
Prior to that, the Wonder Boys were held scoreless against Philley, who was trying to protect a one-run lead that he was given with a solo Poppy homer in the third.
Looking for the shutout in the seventh, the Wonder Boys applied pressure on UAM immediately as
Keaton Ranallo singled to second base. Tech was then able to make Philley commit consecutive errors trying to field bunts to load the bases with no outs.
Schwenke then came through for the Wonder Boys and put them on top 2-1 with a two-run single down the left field line. After a walk to
Brady Prince re-loaded the bases, the Boll Weevils turned to their bullpen, but it wouldn't stop Tech from scoring. Stephenson was the first to face the reliever and he greeted him kindly with a two-RBI single up the middle.
After consecutive outs, the Wonder Boys tacked on one more insurance run with a RBI infield single by Jones.
Now all of a sudden, it was the Wonder Boys who were going out looking to protect a lead, albeit a four-run lead, and called upon their closer
Mason Griffin.
The outing was not entirely smooth for Griffin as UAM loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a pair of walks and a single to centerfield. Facing the heart of the UAM order, Griffin began to find his bearings and got the first out on a sacrifice fly to center field. The Boll Weevils then scored their second run of the inning on a single through the right side to make it a 5-3 game.
Griffin would retire the next batter on a flyout, but the tying run was moved into scoring position on a balk. With all the pressure seemingly on Griffin, he induced a harmless groundout to second base to put the finishing touches on the win for the Wonder Boys.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys and Boll Weevils will decide the weekend series on Sunday afternoon. First-pitch for the rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m.
