ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – SWOSU Baseball was on the short end of a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs fell twice against Henderson State.
Henderson State 7, SWOSU 4Box Score SWOSU rallied from an early three-run deficit to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh, but, as they did on Friday, Henderson State had an answer, this time in the form of a three-run eighth inning that proved to be the difference.
Bryan Holt was 2-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI on the game-tying two-run single in the top of the seventh inning, leading the SWOSU offense that totaled seven hits.
Haden Houska had the only extra-base hit by the Bulldogs, a double in the eighth inning, along with an RBI groundout in the fourth.
Connor Garcia got the start for SWOSU and pitched the first 3.0 innings before
Ethan Davis entered in relief and faced the Reddies the next five frames. Davis allowed four hits and three earned runs along with two walks and took the loss, evening his record at 3-3 on the year.
Henderson State 5, SWOSU 1Box Score Jacob Spring homered to lead off the second inning, giving SWOSU an early 1-0 lead in the finale, but it proved to be the final offense for the Bulldogs in the game as Henderson State completed the series sweep.
The Reddies quickly responded, tying the game in the bottom of the second before taking a lead with one run in the third, but it was a three-run home run in the fifth inning that broke the game wide open for the home team.
SWOSU was limited to four hits in the game while Henderson State had nine off the Bulldogs pitching staff.
Austin Hilton (2-4) took the loss after 4.0 innings of work, including seven hits and four runs before
Brett McNaughton and
Dillon Freie combined to throw the final two frames.
After suffering the series sweep, SWOSU falls to 14-18 on the year and 7-11 in Great American Conference play with four league series remaining. The Bulldogs return to action next weekend as they host Ouachita Baptist for a three-game set at the SWOSU Athletic Complex.
