HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas – The Ouachita baseball team opened the 2024 season on Thursday with a come-from-behind 9-7 victory over Northeastern State.
The game was played at Hot Springs' Majestic Park as a part of the Dugan Collegiate Invitational. The Tigers (1-0) and Riverhawks (0-1) meet again in Hot Springs on Friday at 10 a.m.
Heading into the ninth inning, Ouachita, the visiting team on the scoreboard, trailed 7-6 after Northeastern took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Tigers started the ninth with
Isaac Nowell getting hit by a pitch and then
Tallon Heine reaching on an error. The pair advanced to second and third, respectively, following a NSU balk, which set the stage for a three-run homerun over the left-field fence by
Cole Bedwell. It was Bedwell's second career homerun, and held on to be the eventual game-winning hit.
Dustin Bermudez kept the Riverhawks in check in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save, picking up right where he left off from 2023 when he broke the school's record for saves in a season with 10.
Tag Pacot earned the win in his first career appearance by throwing a perfect eighth inning.
The Tigers opened the game's scoring with five runs in the top of the second inning, four coming with no outs, highlighted by a bases-clearing double by
Kieran Theriot.
Cade Burris opened the scoring earlier in the inning on a bases-loaded walk. Bermudez chipped in offensively with an RBI single to close the second-inning rally.
Burris was responsible for Ouachita's other run with an RBI single in the sixth inning to put the Tigers up 6-2.
Theriot, Bedwell, and
G. Allen all had two hits in the win. As a team, Ouachita scored its nine runs on 11 hits.
