ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Ouachita Tigers baseball team split the series final doubleheader with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Tigers earned the victory in game one, 6-4 and came up short in game two, falling by a final of 5-4.
John Franklin Matros earned the win in game one, allowing only two earned runs over 7.1 innings. Matros struck out four and scattered seven hits to earn his second victory this season.
Josh Reeves picked up his first save of the year in relief.
The Tigers (11-25, 7-17) took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning over SWOSU (23-12, 14-7).
Ryan Hammer led off the inning with a single to left. A sacrifice bunt moved Hammer to second, allowing him to score on a single up the middle by
Aaron Studdard.
After moving over to third on a passed ball and a fly-out, Studdard scored from third on the second SWOSU passed ball in the inning. The Tigers loaded the bases with two hits on a hit batter, a single and a walk.
Justin Weigle drove in the third and fourth runs of the inning with a single to left.
Matros held the bulldogs scoreless through 4.2 innings. With two outs in the top of the fifth, SWOSU's Korbin Polston drove in two Bulldog runs on a double to left-center. Ouachita answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Will Wallace doubled down the right field line, scoring Weigle from first.
Austin White had a RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning to extending the Tigers lead to four runs.
Leading 6-4 in the top of the ninth, Ouachita's
Josh Reeves faced SWOSU's Zach Barton with two on and two out. Reeves struck out Barton looking on a 2-2 pitch to clinch the win and tie the series at 1-1.
After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning of game two, Ouachita scored two in the bottom half if the inning to take a one-run lead. Vitor Draijer blasted a solo-shot over the left-field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
Austin White followed back-to-back singles by
Will Wallace and
Ryan Hammer with a single back up the middle, scoring Wallace and giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Southwestern scored four runs over the next three innings and Ouachita entered the bottom of the fourth trailing 5-2. The Tigers cut the SWOSU lead to one, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
White singled with one out in the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Studdard moved White to third with a single to right field. White scored on a deep sacrifice fly to center field from
Preston Speers. Studdard scored from first on a double down the left-field line by
Ty Owens to cut the lead to 5-4.
Jordan Lawrence entered in relief with no outs in the top of the fourth inning and retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced, allowing only a two-out single in the top of the sixth inning. He struck out three in four innings.
The Tigers had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, but left the cases loaded. They went down in order in the bottom of the seventh. They fell in game two by a final of 5-4.
The Tigers will be on the road Tuesday, April 12, when they face the University of Arkansas at Monticello Weevils. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m
