THE RUNDOWN

Ouachita Baptist baseball finished its 2021 campaign with a 9-3 victory over Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma, on Friday. Simmons Sowell and Louis Steen drove in three runs each in the victory. 

The Tigers scored the first runs of the game in the fourth. Tyler Riebock scored the first run of the game, coming around on a throwing error following a successful double steal attempt. Jaxon Chaney scored the second run on CW Schrader's RBI groundout. 

Jared Free doubled with one out in the fifth and scored on Riebock's RBI single. The Crimson Storm broke up Beau Burson's shutout bid with a run in the bottom of the frame. 

Sowell extended the Tiger lead in the sixth with a two-out, three-run home run to left center. Steen singled home a run in the seventh to pad the advantage further. 

SNU scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, but that would be the end of the home team's offense Friday.  After Steen's two-run single ran Ouachita's lead to 9-3, Garrett Hermes put the finishing touches on a perfect relief outing, recording two of his four strikeouts in the final frame. 

Burson earned the win with 6.1 innings pitched, allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Hermes threw the final 2.2 innings, striking out four of the eight batters he faced. 

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

 - The Tigers finished the year with their best Great American Conference winning percentage and most conference wins since the 2015 season
 - Ouachita ended the season having won 10 of its last 13 games, good for a .769 winning percentage over that span
 - Burson recorded his third straight quality start on Friday, ending the season by posting a 2.37 earned run average over his final three appearances

BY THE NUMBERS

26 - With his ninth-inning walk, Cade Burris extended his reached-base streak to 26 games 
9 - Steen recorded his team-leading ninth multi-RBI game of the season
4 - Sowell drove in three runs for the second straight game and fourth time this season