ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita and Henderson State exchanged pitching gems on Friday on the first day of its Great American Conference series this weekend at Rab Rodgers Field. The Tigers won the first game 4-1, while the Reddies won game two 2-0.
Chase Oberle (5-4) turned in a quality start in game one to earn his fifth victory of the season. He gave up just one HSU run on six hits with 11 strikeouts and just two walks allowed in the first seven innings of the opener. His 11-strikeout performance ties a career high.
Luke House came on in relief and struck out five Reddie batters in the final two innings to earn his second save of the year.
The Tigers reached double digits in the hits column for the 13th time this season, but all but one of the team's runs came in the fourth inning.
Reece McWilliams led off the inning with a solo home run.
Isaac Nowell and
Wesley Scott came through with back-to-back two-out RBI singles later in the inning to put the Tigers up 3-0.
HSU scored its only run in the top of the fifth. Ouachita cashed in on an HSU error to score its final run in the bottom of the seventh.
Nowell, Scott, McWilliams, and
Garrett Graham all had two hits in the win.
In the second half of Friday's twin bill, HSU's Cole Rodriguez held the Tigers scoreless on just two hits in the first five innings of the scheduled seven-inning affair. Payton Byrd came on in the sixth and finished the combined shutout to earn his 13th save of the season by keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard on just one hit.
Nowell accounted for two of Ouachita's three hits in the game.
Despite the loss, Tiger pitchers
Luke House and
Tag Pacot combined to give up only two runs on just four hits. HSU scored on a leadoff home run in the first inning and added one more run on a single in the third, but was held to just one hit the rest of the way.
The rubber match of the series is set for Saturday at noon at Rab Rodgers Field.
