ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University baseball team closed out the 2022 regular season on Saturday with a 6-2 win over rival Henderson State for the 30th victory of the year.
The Tigers improve to 30-20 overall and 20-13 in Great American Conference games. It is the first 30-win season for Ouachita since 2012.
Ouachita scored first on an RBI groundout from Cade Burris in the second and an RBI double by Jaxon Chaney in the third to go up 2-0. The Reddies answered with a solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Tiger lead in half.
The score stayed 2-1 until Ouachita capitalized on an HSU error in the seventh inning to plate three runs, including a two-run homerun by Dustin Bermudez, his fifth-round tripper of the season.
HSU (35-14, 23-10 GAC) scratched one across in the seventh to put the Tigers up 5-2 heading into the final two innings.
Ouachita added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by Bermudez, who then came from shortstop to the mound for his second save of the season.
Hunter Gautreaux (3-5) earned the win, holding the Reddies to just one run on three hits in the middle innings. Cameron Marchant held the Tiger lead with three scoreless outs stretching from the eighth to the ninth. Garrett Hermes had a good start for the Tigers, giving up just one run on four hits in the first four innings.
Depending on the rest of Saturday's results around the league, Ouachita will likely finish fourth in the standings, but earn the No. 5 seed in next weekend's GAC tournament due to tiebreakers. Either way, the Tigers will play in the tournament opener, which is set for Saturday, May 7 at 9:30 a.m. in Hot Springs at the new Majestic Park.
