RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Tuesday afternoon, the Arkansas Tech baseball team played its third-straight day at home, this time taking on Southern Arkansas in a non-conference game. Tech would fall in the mid-week game by a run, 3-2.
All three of SAU's runs came in the top of the third inning and scored on a two-out three-run home run. That 3-0 score would hold until the bottom of the seventh when the Wonder Boys pushed across a pair of runs to make it a one-run game, 3-2.
In that inning,
Cole Dawson led off with a single through the left side. The next two batters were retired, but
Weston Johnston extended the inning with a single centerfield. Dawson would go first-to-third on the play. Johnston then stole second to move himself into scoring position.
Derek Rockett, who was the Wonder Boys' starting pitcher for 4.0 innings and remained in the lineup as the DH, drove both runs home on a single to third base that shot up past the Muleriders' third baseman.
SAU threatened to add insurance runs in the eighth as they loaded the bases, but the Wonder Boys were able to get out of the inning unscathed.
It was still a 3-2 game going into the bottom of the ninth inning and after two quick outs, the Wonder Boys were down to their final chance to score the tying run or possibly win it.
Tyler Sardelli would extend the inning with a two-out single through the right side. Johnston then moved him to third on a single to right-centerfield. That spelled the end of the game for the SAU starting pitcher, who worked 8.2 innings. During the next at-bat,
Tommy Caya, who was on as a pinch-runner for Johnston, stole second base to place the potential winning run in scoring position, but the Muleriders were able to get the final out to end the game.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare to take to the road this coming weekend as they will be at Northwestern Oklahoma for a three-game GAC series. The series is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Friday night and conclude with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
