Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After losing the first of two games on Monday 5-4, the Ouachita Tigers defeated the St. Edward's Hilltoppers 3-2 on a walk-off sacrifice bunt by Jace Melby. The Tigers won the three-game series against the Hilltoppers, 2-1.
 
In the first game of the doubleheader, Ouachita's Tripp Cecil and St. Edward's Cameron Stanton held both teams scoreless through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth inning, however, Cecil gave up an RBI-single through the right side of the infield that put SEU ahead 1-0.
 
The Hilltoppers, who are ranked 13^th in Division II according to the NCBWA Baseball Poll, added two more runs in the fifth inning on a single up the middle and a fielder's choice that allowed a run to score.
 
Stanton pitched five innings without allowing the Tigers to score a run, but Will Wallace finally crossed home plate for Ouachita in the bottom of the sixth inning after Reuben Miller singled up the middle. St. Edward's immediately answered a half-inning later, though, when Wesley Harris' sacrifice fly ball scored Jonathon Arrowood. Dylan Watts then followed with an RBI-single to give SEU a commanding 5-1 lead.
 
The Tigers were unable to spark a rally in the seventh or eighth inning, but Miller led off the bottom of the ninth by reaching first on an error. After Tyler Faught recorded a one-out single that sent Miller to third base, Preston Speers doubled down the left field line to score Miller and send Faught to third.
 
Justin Weigle immediately followed with another double down the left field line that brought the score to 5-4, Hilltoppers. The rally would stop there, however, as Cam Hatch recorded two consecutive outs to give St. Edward's the 5-4 win.
 
Stanton earned the victory on the mound, while Cecil was handed his first loss of the season. Josh Reeves also pitched for the Tigers, recording two strikeouts and giving up two, unearned runs in three innings.
 
Weigle recorded a team-high two hits in the ballgame, and he also led with two runs batted in.
 
In game two, Connor Reed started on the mound for Ouachita, and he recorded three outs on the first three batters for St. Edward's. In the bottom of the inning, Jace Melby blasted a first-inning homerun that scored Drew Feuerbacher and gave the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
 
St. Edward's slowly responded, as the Hilltoppers scored runs on two sacrifice flies, one coming in the second inning and the other coming in the third to tie the game. Reed and SEU's Josh Guerra then entered a pitching duel as neither team scored over the next three and a half innings. Guerra was replaced by Ian Jones in the bottom of the fifth inning, and he held the Tigers scoreless until he was replaced in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Reed, who pitched for six innings, struck out six batters while giving up only two runs and one walk. Lance Cullum came in relief in the seventh inning, and despite a lead-off single, Cullum escaped without giving up a run after a 543-double play.
 
Grayson Pratt stepped on the mound in the bottom of the seventh for St. Edward's, and he recorded three consecutive outs to send the seven-inning game into extras.
 
Both teams failed to cross home plate in the eighth inning, and after Cullum escaped from the top of the ninth, the Tigers were given an opportunity to win the game. The half-inning began with Speers reaching first on a throwing error, and Chandler Blake came in to pinch run. Weigle followed with a bunt-single, and Parker Norris loaded the bases after reaching first on a fielder's choice that failed to record an out.
 
With two outs and the bases loaded, Melby bunted the ball in play, and the throw home was dropped before Blake crossed the plate to give Ouachita the 3-2 win.
 
Cullum earned his first win of the season, pitching for the final three innings without allowing a run. Wallace and Weigle recorded a team-high two hits in the game, and Melby batted in three runs.
 
The Tigers (2-1) defeated the Hilltoppers the day before, 6-4, to win the series 2-1. The Tigers will travel to Grand Prairie, Texas for the Quicktrip Division II Classic Tournament on Feb. 5-8. Ouachita's first game of the tournament will be against Texas A&M – Kingsville at 1 p.m.