ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita baseball team heads into Easter weekend on a high note following a double header sweep over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Friday at home to clinch the team's sixth Great American Conference series victory of the season.
Final scores on Friday were 8-4 and 10-0 in favor of the Tigers (21-22, 18-12 GAC). The two wins on Friday also gives Ouachita its third series sweep of the year and punches the team's ticket to the GAC Championship Tournament.
The Tiger hitting and pitching was on full display in Friday's double header. The offense reached double digits in hits in both games with 11 and 14, respectively, while only three pitchers were needed in 16 innings of baseball.
Kyzer Smith started the first game, giving up three runs on five hits in the first 4.1 innings.
Tag Pacot (5-3) earned the win out of the bullpen by holding the Rangers (27-19, 14-16 GAC) to just one run on three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in the final 4.2 innings.
Luke House (7-4) tossed his fifth complete game of the season in the series finale and collected his first shutout of the year in the process, keeping the Rangers scoreless on just three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in the scheduled seven-inning affair. The senior now has nine complete games and two shutouts in his career.
Offensively,
Garrett Graham led the charge on Friday with five hits in the double header. He went 3-for-4 including a two-run home run in the first game and then went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the finale.
Kyndall Cassidy had four hits on the day with a solo homerun in the first game and a 3-for-4 performance in the finale.
The Tigers look ahead to the final week of the regular season, which includes a non-conference home game against Southern Arkansas on Tuesday and a three-game GAC series at home against cross-street rival Henderson State next weekend.
