RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech baseball team lost both ends of their Monday afternoon doubleheader at home against Henderson State. The Reddies won the first game 7-6 and the second game 7-4 in eight innings.
GAME ONE
In the opener, Henderson State broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third with three runs in the frame. They followed that up with four more runs in the fourth to put them up 7-0.
The Wonder Boys would kickstart their offense in the bottom of the fourth and scored their first run on a RBI double off the bat of
Kirby Jenkins. An inning later, the Wonder Boys struck for three runs of their own with a three-run blast to right field from
Tyler Sardelli.
After not scoring in the sixth, the Wonder Boys scored twice in the seventh to pull within a run of the lead, 7-6. In that inning, Sardelli had a RBI double while
Simon Murray had a RBI single to left.
In the eighth, the Wonder Boys continued to apply pressure on the Reddies and had the tying run in scoring position at second and the potential go-ahead run at first with two outs, but a pick off at second base by the Reddies ended the threat.
Tech would be retired in order in the ninth to end the game.
GAME TWO
The second game as much like the first game, just with the roles reversed. This time it was the Wonder Boys who started out with a lead as they were up 3-0 through three innings of the scheduled seven-inning finale.
The first run came home in the first inning on a RBI single from
Christian Olea. In the third, Olea and Murray were successful in a double steal as Murray scored. Later that inning,
Brendyn Bard hit a sac fly to score Olea.
The Reddies would push across their first run in the fifth, but the Wonder Boys had an answer in their half on a RBI single from Jenkins, to once more go up by three runs.
Henderson continued their push in the sixth and scored twice to pull within a run, 4-3. In the seventh, the Reddies were able to score the tying run to force a bottom of the seventh and eventual extra-innings.
In the eighth, Henderson got a clutch two-out three-run home run to take a 7-4 lead.
Despite that momentum shift, the Wonder Boys did not go quietly in their half of the eighth as they had the bases loaded with two outs and the potential game-winning run at the plate, but the Reddies were able to strand the runners and not allow a run to pick up the 7-4 win.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will have a quick turnaround as they will take to the road for a mid-week game at Harding on Tuesday afternoon. First-pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Searcy.
