Tigers Baseball Splits Final Day of Series with East Central

Courtesy Ouachita Baptist University Athletics Department

ADA, Okla.- The Ouachita Tiger baseball team capped off their conference-opening series against East Central with a pair of interesting games. In the first game of the day, the duo of Tigers combined for 35 runs, as Ouachita took a 19-16 victory. The second contest of the afternoon saw the Tigers failing in a much lower scoring contest, by a final score of 7-5.

Ouachita (5-5-1, 2-1 GAC) jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first game after just three innings. They recorded five runs in the first inning, a run in the second inning and another four runs in the third inning. 

The fourth inning saw neither team scoring, but Ouachita came out in the fifth and extended their lead even more, adding seven runs to their totals and making the score 17-0. East Central (5-7, 1-2 GAC) posted their first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth, followed by the top of the sixth when Ouachita scored another two runs, making the score 19-1. 

The game became a lot more interesting following the bottom of the sixth, as East Central recorded run after run, including a grand slam near the end of the inning. Before they were done, the opposing Tigers had scored 14 runs and made the score 19-15.

The top of the seventh was scoreless for Ouachita, while East central added another run to their totals, but neither team was able to plate another run, allowing Ouachita to escape with a 19-16 win.

Davis Ward took the win, throwing 5.1 innings and recording five strikeouts. Ouachita used six pitchers in the game, while East Central used four. 

The second game of the afternoon saw another fairly high scoring battle, although not even close to that of the first game. 

Ouachita’s Keegan Ghidotti opened up the scoring in the first inning with a 2 RBI home run that sailed over the fence in left center field. They weren’t done yet though, as McCrae Jones knocked a RBI single to right field and gave his team a 3-0 lead after just a half inning of play.

The Tigers continued adding to their lead in the second, with another RBI single that stretched their lead to four runs.

East Central saw another late start, as it took them three innings to get a run across the plate, but from then on they controlled the game. Ouachita was able to score a run in the top of the fourth, but six unanswered runs, two in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth, sent Ouachita home with a loss.

Josh Everett was credited with the loss for the Tigers, despite throwing a complete game. Everett recorded four strikeouts, but gave up seven earned runs.

The Tigers are back on the field on Tuesday, when they host Harding University for a single non-conference game that will begin at 1 p.m.

Tags: , , ,