SEARCY, Arkansas – The Ouachita baseball team split its Saturday double header on the road against Harding with a 7-6 loss in the first game followed by a 5-4 win in the series finale.
The Bisons won the series 2-1 following its 11-4 win on Friday night in the series opener. Ouachita moves to 10-5 overall and 5-4 in Great American Conference games. Harding moves to 10-5 and 7-2.
In the first game on Saturday, the Bisons led 7-1 going into the ninth inning before Ouachita exploded for five runs on four hits, two walks, and one bases-loaded hit batter.
Reece McWilliams,
Jaren Ceasar,
Cade Bowman, and
Joseph Bolin all had run-producing at bats.
Harding turned a double play with the bases loaded to escape with a win.
Ouachita's first run in the game came on an RBI single by Bolin in the top of the first inning. The Bison pitchers then held Ouachita scoreless until the ninth.
In the finale, the Tigers needed one extra inning in the scheduled seven-inning affair to salvage one win in the series.
Jaren Ceasar delivered what ended up being the game-winning hit with a single up the middle in the top of the eighth to score
Ashton Ybarra, who walked earlier in the inning.
The Tigers had earlier gone up 4-1 on an RBI single from
Octavio Mendivil in the top of the fifth. Ouachita's first three runs came in a third-inning rally that featured a two-run single by
David Bull and an RBI fielder's choice groundout by Bolin.
Andrew Hayden (2-0) earned the win in relief, giving up just one run on three hits with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.
Kyndall Cassidy earned his first save of the year by retiring all four Harding batters he faced in the end of the seventh and all of the eighth.
The Tigers are back home for their next four games, starting with a non-conference game against Arkansas Tech on Tuesday, March 3. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Rab Rodgers Field.
