WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Baseball used a 14-hit outing on a windy final home game to earn an 8-4 win in their second non-conference matchup with fellow GAC opponent East Central.
The Bulldogs (24-20) close out their midweek schedule with a win and finish 6-1 this year in midweek affairs.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs spread out two-run scoring innings on offense throughout the game after falling behind by three runs in the top of the second inning. In the bottom half of the second,
Ty Eastwood and
Campbell Sullivan both reached on hits of their own before a
Sean Monsour double brought both runs in to score and cut the deficit to just one.
The fifth inning saw the Dawgs take the lead after an RBI triple by
Eric Foufoulas brought in the tying run before an ensuing single by
Bodi Wallar plated the go-ahead run.
The Dawgs found themselves tied 4-4 after the Tigers were able to notch a score in the top of the sixth, but a quick response from SWOSU was on the table as, with two outs, Wallar would reach first base for the third time on the day thanks to a single that brought in
Hunter Smith to give the Dawgs a lead they would not relinquish.
Gage Gaunt then added an extra run thanks to an RBI single through the left side.
SWOSU added two additional insurance runs in the eighth thanks to an ECU blunder with two outs that allowed two runs to score.
Every Bulldog batter reached base in the game, while eight different Dawgs had hits to their name. Both Wallar and Sullivan each had a team-high of three hits.
Justin Schrader started the game for SWOSU, throwing 2.1 innings before getting relief from
Conner Watson, who earned the win. Watson threw a season-high 5.2 innings after never eclipsing 2.0 innings in his 12 previous appearances. He allowed just two hits and one run.
Jackson Blue closed out the final inning, going three up, three down.
SWOSU (24-20, 11-18 GAC) will look to claw their way into postseason contention as they enter the final weekend of the regular season. They're set to face Northwestern in Alva beginning on Friday, April 25. The series is scheduled to conclude a day later, on Saturday.
