WARRENSBURG, Missouri – Augustana hit three homeruns in the first four innings, which ultimately led to a 5-3 loss for Ouachita on Thursday in the first game of the NCAA Division II Baseball Central Region Tournament at Crane-Tompkins Field.
The Vikings (43-18) struck quick with a two-run homerun in the first inning, but were then held quiet until the fourth when they hit two over the fence for their final three runs of the game.
Ouachita (37-18) went to
Teddy Webb out of the bullpen for his first relief appearance of the season. The southpaw gave up one of the homeruns in the fourth inning, but then shut the Vikings down with five scoreless innings to close the game aided by five strikeouts and a handful of web-gem defensive plays.
One of those defensive plays was a diving catch by
G. Allen in left field, which resulted in a double play at first base with the Augie baserunner nearly at third base at the time of the catch.
Ouachita's scoring came on an RBI single by
Isaac Nowell in the first inning, a wild pitch scoring
Jud Arrington from third base in the second inning, and an RBI single by
CW Schrader in the sixth.
The Tigers racked up 10 hits in the contest, marking just the second loss this season in 27 games with Ouachita reaching double-digits in the hit category. Allen, Arrington, and
Michael Quinones all had two hits in the game.
The Tigers drop into the elimination bracket of the tournament, and will face either St. Cloud State or the host Central Missouri on Friday at 2 p.m.
