ARKADELPHIA -- Ouachita leaned on its power and launched five total home runs to earn a commanding sweep over Central Baptist in the final non-conference doubleheader Tuesday at Langston Field. The Tigers improved to 18-27 overall, extending their win streak to four consecutive ballgames and eight of their last 10 in April.
Freshman Morgan Uher set the tone in the opener, working a full count before pulling a solo home run over the left field wall for her fifth homer of the season to give Ouachita a lead it would not surrender. Uher delivered in the second inning with an RBI single up the middle before she turned it into a Little League-style home run as the throw to the plate skipped past the catcher and allowed two additional runs to score.
The Tigers broke the opener wide open in the second inning, hitting around to plate 11 runs and take full control. Junior Jordyn Merrett hit a two-run jack to left-center for her second homer of the year to extend the lead to 3-0. Merrett finished a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate Tuesday with four runs scored, along with three RBI and a home run.
Senior Jessalyn Ahrens followed Uher's eventful sequence pulling a two-run single into right-center as the Tigers pounced to a 12-0 lead. Central Baptist scored twice in the third to stop the bleeding and cut the deficit to 10.
Junior Karley Burrow came off the bench and barrelled a solo shot the opposite way over the wall in left-center, tying a career-high with her third homer this season to put the game on ice and seal a run-rule victory in the opener. Senior Hannah Hunter (3-7) claimed the decision in five innings, striking out two while allowing just three earned runs.
Ouachita scored a run in every single inning of the nightcap to complete the sweep. After Remington Adams led off the first with a single to left field, Uher drove her in by punching a liner off the wall in center, then later scored on a wild pitch to take a 2-0 lead. Adams wasted no time piling more runs with two runners on and two outs in the second inning, belting a three-run home run over the center field wall for her fourth dinger to increase the lead to 5-0. The redshirt-senior matched Merrett with four hits at the plate and led all hitters with six RBI.
The Mustangs mounted a comeback with five runs in the third, punctuated by a three-run homer from Elizabeth Stoufer to force the lone tie at 5-5. The Tigers capitalized on a fielding error in the bottom half as Merrett made them pay with a line drive RBI single down the left field line to reclaim the lead.
With runners on the corners, faced with a full count and two outs in the fourth, junior Emily Reed came through with a clutch RBI single up the middle to extend the lead to 7-5. Reed later added insurance with a solo shot over the wall in left-center for the 17th homer of her junior campaign, extending her own single-season program record.
Jayden Galindo (1-0) earned her first career win in relief, allowing just a solo home run over 3.1 innings. The junior struck out the first two batters of the sixth and retired seven of the final eight batters she faced to close it out.
Ouachita returns to Great American Conference play and hosts Henderson State in a three-game rivalry series, with the opener moved up to Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Langston Field.
