Box Score JACKSON, Tenn. – The Ouachita Tigers baseball did not come back from the volunteer state empty handed as they won game three over Union 9-8.

Jakahari Howell (Arkadelphia, Ark.) started the game off with a leadoff double to right field. Victor Draijer (Netherlands) laid down a sacrifice bunt but the Union third baseman threw the ball out of play and allowed Howell to score in the process.

One batter later Preston Speers (McKinney, Texas) singled to left field to bring Draijer in for the second run of the inning. Speers advanced to second on a wild pitch and then came around to score on another errant throw by the Union third basemen.

With two outs in the bottom of first inning the Ouachita (1-2) appeared to be in prime position to get out of the jam with runners second and third. Then what should have been a routine ground ball to short ended up being a disaster for the Tigers as two runs came into score off of the throw.

Union tied the game up at 3-3 in the bottom of the second. The game stayed tied for an inning until Union (2-1) came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth. Union took the lead on a bases loaded hit by pitch and then added another run with a balk by the Ouachita pitcher.

The Tigers entered the top of the fifth inning trailing 5-3 and the offense responded in a big way for the Ouachita. Kyle Alexander (Conway, Ark.) and Speers hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to deep centerfield to tie the game at 5-5. A few batter's latter Draijer scored from third on a wild pitch to give the Tigers a 6-5 advantage.

Ouachita got through the bottom of the fifth fairly quickly and brought their offense back up to the plate. Ty Owens (El Dorado, Ark.) hit an RBI single to right field to increase the Tigers lead to two runs. Owens came around to score on the third error of the afternoon by a Union third baseman.

Alexander hit another sacrifice fly to centerfield to end the scoring for the Tigers in the fifth inning.

Union began a comeback in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Nolen Milton homered to right field to bring Union back within three runs. Two batters later Hayden Lewis singled to centerfield to bring Union another run closer to the Tigers.

Lewis came around to score on a wild pitch, which brought the score to 9-8 in Ouachita's favor. Neither team scored the final three innings as Ouachita picked up their first victory of the 2018 season.

Luke Scaggs (Frisco, Texas) picked up the victory for the Tigers on the mound, throwing 2.1 innings of relief. Kaden Tollett (DeQueen, Ark.) pitched the final inning to pick up his first save of the season. Speers finished the game going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI's and a run scored.

Ouachita's next game will be on the road against the University of Arkansas at Monticello. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.