RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The top-two teams in the Great American Conference baseball standings squared off for game one of a three-game weekend series on Friday night out at Baswell Field in Russellville. As one would hope, the opener was a well-played heavyweight bout that saw No. 10/7 Southern Arkansas ultimately come away with a 3-2 win.
The highly-anticipated clash between Tech and SAU got off to a rousing start as the Wonder Boys' (23-14, 16-6 GAC) starter
John Gray collected a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Tech put together a two-out rally against reigning National Division II Pitcher of the Year, Jeremy Adorno, as
Sawyer Duddleston extended the inning with a single up the middle.
After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Duddleston was able to trot home as
Nick Jones cranked a two-run home run out to straightaway centerfield.
SAU pushed across their first run of the game in the third inning on a two-out RBI double. In the fifth, the Muleriders (25-10, 17-5 GAC) tied the score on an unearned run as a leadoff double came around to score on a passed ball.
The Wonder Boys would get a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth as a
Cade McBride singled to centerfield, but Adorno was able to retire the next three batters in order extinguishing the potential threat.
A half inning later, SAU pushed across the go-ahead run and threatened for more as they had the bases loaded with one out. After the bases got loaded, Gray did a masterful job of not allowing any more runs with a strikeout and harmless grounder back to him that he handled and tagged first all on his own.
Tech got another leadoff hit in the sixth on a single through the right side by
Ty Gordon. Unfortunately, the Wonder Boys weren't able to build upon that knock as the Muleriders got a groundball double play in the next at-bat. Two batters later, SAU was out of the inning with their one-run lead intact.
In the seventh, the Wonder Boys turned to their bullpen and called upon left-hander
Will Horton. Horton would pitch a scoreless seventh inning to keep the Wonder Boys within a run of SAU.
That potential tying run found its way on base in leadoff fashion for a third-consecutive inning as
Sam Stephenson singled to right field. Stephenson was then moved into scoring position on a successful sacrifice bunt by McBride. He then advanced 90 more feet on a Duddleston sac bunt. Unfortunately, the Wonder Boys were unable to get the big hit with two-outs and Tech was kept off the board in the seventh.
Horton went back out to the mound for Tech in the eighth and retired the Muleriders in order. In the bottom of the frame, Tech's left-handed hitters put good swings on a couple of pitches, but flew out to deep right field.
Horton continued to pitch well in the ninth and sat the Muleriders down 1-2-3.
Well over the 100-pitch mark, but in complete control, Adorno came back out for the bottom of the ninth for SAU. The Wonder Boys would make contact against Adorno three times, but all resulted in putouts as Adorno put the finishing touches on a complete game.
Games two and three of the series are scheduled to be played on Saturday afternoon starting at 1 p.m.
