ARKADELPHIA, ARK. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team came up clutch in the latter innings of both their games at Ouachita Baptist on Saturday afternoon to propel them to a doubleheader sweep.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys fell behind early as Ouachita scored twice in the bottom of the first. Tech would get a run back in the top of the third on RBI single up the middle from
Cole Dawson, but Ouachita answered with a run of their own in their half to go back up by a pair of runs.
That 3-1 score in favor of Ouachita held until the top of the sixth when the Wonder Boys scored a run on a RBI single up the middle by
Sawyer Duddleston. Two batters prior to Duddleston's RBI,
Simon Murray led the inning off with a double to left-centerfield.
Neither team scored in the seventh, but the Wonder Boys struck for five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-3 lead over the Tigers. All of that damage done by Tech in the eighth came with two outs.
Dawson had led the inning off with a walk, which was then followed by a hit-by-pitch to Murray. A fielder's choice in the
Christian Olea at-bat erased Dawson, but the bases were quickly loaded as Duddletson was hit-by-a-pitch.
Ouachita came within an out of not giving up any runs on a strikeout, but a four-pitch walk to
Kolby Webb forced in the first run and tied the game at three-all.
Brendyn Bard, who had come on as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the seventh, came through with a go-ahead two-run single up the middle.
Later in the frame, Sardelli drew a walk to drive in the fourth run. The fifth and final run was scored in the Dawson at-bat as he reached on a fielding error by the Ouachita shortstop.
Ouachita rallied themselves in the last of the ninth, scoring twice and having the potential tying run on base with one out before
JT Cafferty induced a game-ending double play.
GAME TWO
The seven-inning game of the doubleheader did not see as much offense as the opener, but still started with Ouachita taking a lead. This time, they hit a solo home run in the second inning. It was not until the top of the third that the Wonder Boys would crack the scoreboard.
In that inning, Sardelli was the first to reach base as he did so with one out on a throwing error by the Ouachita third baseman. The bases were then loaded quickly thereafter with singles from Dawson and Murray. With the bases loaded, Olea hit a sac fly to center to score Sardelli and tie the game at one-all.
The game remained tied at one-all until the top of the fifth when the Wonder Boys scored a pair of unearned runs.
Like the opener, the damage done by Tech came with two outs. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Sardelli hit an infield single to third. He then stole second and got to third on the play on a throwing error by the Ouachita catcher. Dawson continued the inning on a hit-by-pitch and then stole second to put himself in scoring position.
That proved to be a major play in the game as both Sardelli and Dawson scored on a dropped third strike and subsequent throwing error by the Tigers' catcher in the next at-bat.
Starting pitcher
Daniel Hutchison then went on to retire six of the next seven batters faced and struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.
UP NEXT
The series finale between the Wonder Boys and Tigers will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
