RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The tough luck for SWOSU in the Great American Conference Baseball Tournament continued on Friday evening as they dropped a hard-fought 3-2 contest against Arkansas Tech at Baswell Field in Russellville.
Arkansas Tech scored twice in the bottom of the third inning and added a run in the bottom of the fourth to build a 3-0 lead, but the Bulldogs quickly answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth.
Tyler Benge got the scoring started with a leadoff home run – his first of the season – before
Drew White powered a sac fly out to center, scoring
Marc Gonzales from third to make it a one-run game.
Both teams got strong efforts from their bullpen to close out the game, which saw 20 runners left on base between the two teams. SWOSU had two runners on when the eighth inning concluded and GAC Player of the Year
Alex Bedard was hit by a pitch in the ninth and stole second – his 31st stolen base of the season – to move into scoring position, which is where he was stranded as the season ended.
SWOSU managed just four hits off First Team All-GAC starter Patrick Miner of ATU, who struck out nine in 6.0 innings of action, and managed just two walks from Nick Kovar in the final 3.0 frames. Bedard, Benge,
Miguel Soto and
Ryan Dos Santos had the hits, while Benge and White were credited with RBI in the contest.
Three pitchers saw time on the mound for SWOSU, with
Noah Chapin (1-3) starting and taking the loss after allowing three runs on five hits in the first three frames.
Dakota Jones relieved him in the fourth but faced just four batters before giving way to
Ryan Hildner, who went the rest of the way and struck out three while allowing three hits and keeping ATU scoreless the final 4.1 innings.
"We knew we needed to score some runs tonight to stay in the game with a great offense like Arkansas Tech and our pitching really gave us a chance," SWOSU Head Coach
Zack Saunders said following the game. "I'm proud of our guys, this group gave us everything they had and they had chances to win a ballgame tonight, which is all you can ask for in the postseason."
SWOSU concludes the 2021 campaign with a record of 21-18, the eighth winning season in 10 years under the tutelage of Saunders.
