WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Baseball battled Southern Arkansas on Friday in a pair of conference affairs to kick off the series. The Bulldogs secured a walk-off win in game one before getting handed a 13-9 loss in game two.
The two will duke it out tomorrow at noon in the rubber match to decide the series.
Game One – SWOSU 7, Southern Ark. 6
The Bulldogs walked off the Muleriders in the day's first game, finally dispatching the visitors for good. SWOSU never trailed in the game but traded punches with SAU the entire way through.
Five of the Mulerider's six runs came in the half inning following a Bulldog lead change.
Reece Burke got the day's scoring going in the second inning after hitting a solo home run to left field. After SAU tied the game in the fourth, the Dawgs gained another lead an inning later with a trio of runs with two outs. Jackson Syring popped a ball up high enough into the wind which gave the SAU second baseman trouble to score the first run, followed by a two RBI double from Geoff Marlow.
Once the Muleriders tied the game back up at 4-4 in the sixth, SWOSU retook the lead in the seventh with a two run bomb from Ty Eastwood. The lead didn't hold for long, as SAU knotted the score back up in the next frame which included back-to-back triples.
SWOSU eventually loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, which allowed Reece Burke to hit a high bouncing ground ball over the shortstop who was playing shallow for the game winner.
Rece Parker and SAU's Jeremy Adorno both had solid outings to start the game on the mound. Parker pitched into the sixth inning and struck out nine. Adorno struck out 14 but surrendered six of their seven runs in the game.
Grant Ewy pitched three innings of relief, striking out six, before giving the ball to Ayden Page (W, 3-0) who threw a scoreless ninth.
Burke finished a triple shy of the cycle. Eastwood, Syring, and Sean Monsour all had two hits apiece.
Game Two – Southern Ark. 13, SWOSU 9
Three scoring innings from SAU of three runs or more including a five-run fourth gave them enough offense to split the series. The Muleriders hit four home runs in the contest which accounted for seven of their 13 runs.
The five-run Mulerider fourth inning got immediately answered with three Bulldog runs the next half inning, but another three runs by SAU afterwards acted as a momentum killer.
RBIs in SWOSU's fourth came from singles courtesy of Ty Eastwood and Jackson Syring.
Jackson Phillips was handed the loss in 3.2 innings of work. Josh Rains, Jackson Blue, and Tyler Leachner all pitched in relief. Blue entered in the fifth and pitched a scoreless sixth.
Like game one, Eastwood, Syring, and Monsour all had another two hits. Monsour tripled, Syring doubled in the contest. Every batter in the starting lineup had a hit in the game. SWOSU outhit the Muleriders 13-12.
