ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita baseball team wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a pair of losses to Henderson State across the street at Clyde Berry Field by final scores of 3-1 and 3-2.
The losses drop Ouachita to 27-21 overall and 19-14 in Great American Conference games. The Tigers will either be the No. 6 seed or the No. 7 seed in next weekend's GAC Tournament opening round, which is a best-of-three series on the road against either No. 2 seed Arkansas Tech or No. 3 seed Harding. The matchup will be determined on Sunday.
As far as Saturday's action against the Reddies (27-21, 20-13 GAC), both games featured pitching duals with limited scoring opportunities.
In game one,
Cooper Timmons tossed the first 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Cameron Marchant closed out the game keeping the Reddies scoreless on just two hits in the final 2.1 innings. HSU used three pitchers in the game, allowing just one Ouachita run on six hits.
Cade Burris was responsible for Ouachita's only scoring in the first game with a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning. It was his 11th round-tripper of the season.
HSU took advantage of a two-out walk followed by a hit batter to score two runs in the second and added a cushion run in the fifth inning on a solo homerun.
In the series finale, Ouachita's
Luke House was dominant through the first five innings with three perfect frames and never allowing more than one HSU base runner at a time. That changed in the sixth when the Reddies rallied for three runs on three hits.
The Tigers had taken a 2-0 lead off the bat of
Joseph Bolin, who had a sac fly in the fifth inning on a line out to left field and then a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.
Five HSU pitchers combined to allow just five Ouachita hits.
Michael Quinones went 3-for-3.
