ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita baseball team used a pair of five-run innings, featuring grand slams in both innings, to beat Henderson State 12-9 on Saturday to clinch the series victory over the Reddies.
Saturday's win gives Ouachita its seventh Great American Conference series victory of the season and moves the Tigers (24-23, 20-13 GAC) to one-game above .500 heading into the postseason.
Ouachita now has the tiebreaker over HSU (28-20, 20-13) in the conference standings and will have the No. 5 seed in next weekend's tournament in Enid, Oklahoma. The Tigers will face off against No. 4 seed Harding on Thursday, May 1 at 9:30 a.m.
The Reddies started Saturday's scoring with a pair of runs in the first inning before Ouachita starter
Austin Bagnall settled in to keep HSU scoreless in the next three innings.
The first five-run inning for the Tigers came in the second frame with
Gavin Jacobs starting with a grand slam over the left field fence followed later in the inning by a solo home run from
Wesley Scott. It was Jacobs' second home run of the season and Scott's eighth.
Two innings later, the Tigers struck again for five runs to take a 10-2 lead.
Kyndall Cassidy started the rally with a bases-loaded walk to set up a grand slam by
Garrett Graham, mirroring Jacobs' shot to left in the second. It was Graham's eighth round-tripper of the year.
The Reddies rallied back to make it 10-7 with a two-run home run by Luke Farrar in the sixth and a bases-clearing double by Cal Jones in the seventh.
Graham struck again in the eighth, this time with a two-run double to give him six RBI for the game and put the Tigers up 12-7.
The Reddies rallied for two runs in the ninth, but a five-run lead to start the inning gave
Tag Pacot room to work. Pacot earned a two-inning save, his third of the year.
Braden Tucker (2-1) earned the win in relief of Bagnall.
Ouachita honored six student-athletes prior to Saturday's game as a part of Senior Day. Those wrapping up their collegiate careers include
Luke House,
Andrew Cox,
Isaac Nowell,
Logan Bell,
Ryan Armentrout, and
Tag Pacot.
