RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – After 20 innings of baseball on Friday, at least nine more will be needed to determine the series winner between Ouachita and Arkansas Tech in the opening round of the Great American Conference Championship Tournament.
Ouachita (28-22) won game one on Friday 9-6 in 11 innings before Arkansas Tech (34-16) rallied from behind to win the nightcap 7-5. The rubber match is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the GAC Tournament Final Four next weekend at Dickey Stephens Ballpark in North Little Rock.
The Tigers built early leads in both games only to see the Wonder Boys rally back both times to tie the game late.
In game one, the Tigers led off the game with four straight hits, including back-to-back RBI singles from
Michael Quinones and
Cade Burris. Quinones struck again in the sixth with a solo home run to put Ouachita up 3-1.
Wesley Scott hit a two-run double later in the sixth to make it 5-1.
In the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases and then went up 6-2 on a walk by Burris. The Wonder Boys responded with a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras.
After a scoreless tenth inning,
Tallon Heine drove in the go-ahead run by beating out an infield single to set up a two-run single from
Wesley Scott to finalize the scoring.
The Wonder Boys had two runners on and the potential tying run at the plate when
Cameron Marchant was called on mid at-bat to then strike out Tech's Grant Jones to end the game. It was Marchant's second save of the season.
Tag Pacot (5-2) earned the win in relief, holding the Wonder Boys scoreless on two hits with two strikeouts in 1.2 inning of work.
Quinones finished game one 3-for-5.
Dustin Bermudez and
Wesley Scott each had two hits.
Bermudez started game two with a solo home run in the first inning to stake starter
Cooper Timmons to an early lead. Timmons tossed up five straight zeros to start before being relieved in the seventh inning.
The Wonder Boys rallied with three straight innings scoring multiple runs to close the game to erase what was a 5-2 lead for the Tigers.
Bermudez hit another home run in the seventh for his fifth game this year with two. Quinones also homered in game two. Bermudez and Quinones are now tied for the team lead in round-trippers with 15 each.
