ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita and Southwestern Oklahoma State exchanged lopsided victories on the first day of their Great American Conference series at Rab Rodgers Field on Friday with the Tigers winning game one 14-4 and the Bulldogs taking game two 9-0.
The highlights of game one included an eight-run inning for the Tigers (4-6, 2-3 GAC) in the fourth and a quality start for
Cooper Timmons in his first win of the season.
Timmons gave up just three runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts and only two walks in the first six innings.
Hayden Childers and
Kyzer Smith came in to keep the Bulldogs limited offensively with just one run on three hits in the final two innings.
The eight-run fourth inning for Ouachita included five extra base hits, two of which going for two-run homeruns.
Isaac Nowell and
Wesley Scott each had two-run round-trippers in the rally. Nowell came back in his second at bat of the inning with a two-run double to put the Tigers up 9-2.
After SWOSU (10-5, 2-3 GAC) added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings, Ouachita answered with three runs in the seventh on a pair of doubles – an RBI double by
Collin Liles and a two-run double by
Tallon Heine. That put the Tigers up 12-4.
In the eighth, Ouachita rallied to score two to get the run-rule victory. The eighth-inning rally featured a solo homerun by
Kieran Theriot and the game-ending hit coming on an RBI single from
Joseph Bolin.
In the second half of the twin bill, the scheduled seven inning game of the series, the Bulldogs were led by pitcher Jackson Phillips, who tossed a complete game shutout with five hits allowed, eight strikeouts, and just one walk allowed.
The Bulldogs took advantage of five errors committed by the Tigers to score runs in bunches, including four in the top of the second inning, all unearned. Combined, the Tigers gave up just three earned runs.
The rubber match of the series is set for Saturday at noon at Rab Rodgers Field.
