ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita baseball team opened an eight-game homestand on Tuesday with a dominant non-conference win over Harding by a final score of 12-2.
The Tigers reached double digits in both runs and hits in the win over the Bisons. It was the team's fifth game with at least 10 runs and the 13th time to have at least 10 hits.
After working out of a jam in the first inning to keep the Bisons scoreless, the Tigers rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning to take control early.
Jaren Ceasar started the scoring with an RBI single, followed by a two-run double by
Joseph Bolin, and capped by a sacrifice fly from
Kyndall Cassidy.
The Bisons kept the Tigers scoreless over the next four innings, but the Ouachita offense came back in the final two innings, including a five-run sixth inning and three-run seventh to finish the game early due to the NCAA 10-run rule.
Ceasar,
Cole Bedwell,
Reece McWilliams, and
Octavio Mendivil all had run-producing at bats in the sixth. Ceasar came through with his third RBI of the game to start the scoring in the seventh, which preceded an RBI single from Bolin and a game-winning RBI single by McWilliams.
Ceasar finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and reached base in all five plate appearances, also including getting hit by a pitch twice.
Bolin also had three RBI in the win and joined McWilliams, Mendivil, and
Ashton Ybarra with two hits apiece in the game.
Peyton Sterritt earned a no-decision after tossing four quality innings, eventually giving up the two Harding runs in the fifth before being relieved by
Jarrett Waggoner,
Braden Tucker, and
Lucas Mercado. Waggoner gave up one walk but was otherwise perfect in his outing. Tucker and Mercado each faced the minimum.
The Tigers are back in action this Thursday and Friday at home in a three-game Great American Conference series against Arkansas-Monticello. The series was moved up one day due to rain the forecast for later in the week and into the weekend. The series will now be played as a single game on Thursday at 1 p.m. and a double header on Saturday starting at noon. Any other changes will be announced at OBUtigers.com and on official social media channels.
