JOPLIN, Mo. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team saw its 2023 season end in the elimination game of the Central Region Tournament on Saturday afternoon as they lost to No. 3-seed Southern Arkansas by a score of 5-0.
Despite the shutout, the Wonder Boys (32-22) put the ball in play on a consistent basis against the Muleriders (40-17) but fell victim to some stellar defensive plays made by SAU.
Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Wonder Boys had the first two batters reach on singles with
Cade McBride singling to center and
Sam Stephenson singling up the middle. The Muleriders then induced a ground ball double play. With McBride at third,
Nick Jones hit a liner of the other way that was snared by the Muleriders' shortstop on a full-extension leap to end the inning.
An inning later, the Wonder Boys threatened again with the first two reaching base. This time it was
Keaton Ranallo leading off the inning with a single to left. Ranallo then took second on a passed ball.
Logan Schwenke followed with a walk. Both were moved up 90-feet on a successful sacrifice bunt by
Brandon Bunton.
Tough luck struck the Wonder Boys again on a liner to short as the Mulerider defender made another leaping snag. SAU then got out of the inning on a strikeout.
In the next half inning, SAU added two runs to their lead and brought the score to its final of 5-0 with two runs.
