WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Three SWOSU pitchers combined to throw 16 shutout innings on Friday as the Bulldogs earned a pair of victories over Great American Conference leader Ouachita Baptist at the Athletic Complex. SWOSU won the first game 3-0 before getting just a single run and holding off the Tigers in the seventh of a 1-0 win in the second game.
SWOSU 3, Ouachita Baptist 0Box Score A two-time GAC Pitcher of the Week already this season,
Jon Chidester may have had his top performance of the season as he carried a one-hit effort into the ninth inning of the series opener against the top offense in the conference. He wound up with allowing three hits in his first complete-game shutout as a Bulldog while striking out five Tigers and walking just one.
Despite recording just four hits, the Bulldogs were very opportunistic on the offensive side, scoring single runs in the third, seventh and eighth innings to provide Chidester – who improved to 5-4 on the year – plenty of support.
CJ Faddis was hit by a pitch to leadoff the third inning before advancing to second with a sacrifice bunt from
Tyler Rapp, giving
Bryan Holt the RBI opportunity that he would cash in with a single to right field, scoring the opening run of the game. SWOSU got two runners on in the seventh inning with another hit batter and a walk, enabling Faddis to be on the RBI end as he got a hit through the right side to score
Greg Bruno from third.
Dalton Daniels,
Zach Barton and Holt all reached base to start the eighth inning with Daniels scoring SWOSU's final run after a throwing error on the Tigers, making it 3-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.
SWOSU 1, Ouachita Baptist 0Box Score Fans of a pitching duel would have enjoyed the nightcap even more than the opener as the teams combined for just nine hits and one run in another quickly played game.
Austin Hilton took the hill for the Bulldogs and came two outs shy of a complete game as SWOSU completed the afternoon sweep.
Hilton (3-4) allowed five hits in 6.1 innings of work, but the Bulldog defense turned one double play and made several timely plays to aid in the shutout, none more important than in the final inning. Hilton left with one out in the seventh and a runner on second base, which quickly turned to two runners on base after
Taylor Weifenbach walked the first batter he faced.
Facing a pinch hitter, Weifenbach then allowed a single to centerfield but
Jacob Spring quickly hit
Haden Houska on a relay throw and Houska fired it home to
Mason Marshall, who tagged out the Tigers baserunner after he missed home plate. With runners on first and third with two outs, Weifenbach got the final out as he induced a fly out to Spring to end the game.
Offensively. SWOSU was held to three hits but two of them were paired together in the fourth inning for the game's only run. Barton singled to left against a stiff breeze to open the inning and he made it to second after a failed pickoff attempt by OBU. Holt laid down a great sacrifice bunt that moved Barton over to third before Spring connected with a double to left center that brought Barton home to score.
"Really proud of our guys as they came together and got our first two shutouts of the year, which couldn't have come at a better time," SWOSU Coach
Zack Saunders said following the twin bill. "We knew we had our hands full but
Jon Chidester and
Austin Hilton both came out, commanded the zone and dealt with the conditions that played into their favor. Going in, we knew their might not be a ton of scoring chances so we had to take advantage of them and our offense did just that."
With the victories, SWOSU (16-18, 9-11 GAC) has already claimed the series victory and they will look for their first series sweep of the year on Saturday with a single game beginning at noon from the Athletic Complex.
