WONDER BOYS SWEEP HOME DOUBLEHEADER FROM HARDING, SET TO PLAY SEASON FINALE SUNDAY ON SENIOR DAY

         RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys Baseball won both games of a Gulf South Conference doubleheader here Saturday afternoon against Harding at Tech Field.

Tech opened the doubleheader with a 15-5 win (Box Score) in a game that was called after seven innings due to the 10-run mercy rule and then posted a 4-3 victory (Box Score) in the nightcap. The two wins snapped a nine-game losing streak in GSC play for the Wonder Boys and kept its faint postseason hopes alive until later in the evening on Saturday when Ouachita Baptist swept a doubleheader Saturday at home against Christian Brothers to end Tech’s hopes of earning a berth in the 2009 GSC Tournament next weekend in Millington, Tenn.

The Wonder Boys entered the weekend needing to sweep all three games against Harding and then have Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist lose two of its three games in its weekend series against Arkansas-Monticello and Christian Brothers respectively. HSU split its two games on Saturday, while OBU swept its two games to earn the No. 4 seed in the GSC Tournament.

          With the wins, Tech improves to 22-29 on the season and 9-11 in the GSC, while Harding saw its mark drop to 30-22 overall and 11-8 in league play.

          In the first game, Tech pounded out a season-high 18 hits and scored a season-high 15 runs, along with hitting five home runs as the game was called after seven innings via the mercy rule.

          Each team plated three runs in the second inning, but a six-run third inning gave the Wonder Boys a 9-3 advantage. In the inning, senior first baseman Robbie Hohler (Searcy, Ark.) got the big inning started with a leadoff single and junior left fielder Jeremy Houchin (Springdale, Ark.) followed with a two-run homer, his first of two in the game. Junior designated hitter Sammy Hassen (Fort Smith, Ark.) would score on a wild pitch later in the frame and senior third baseman Tony Sanchez (Mesquite, Texas) would cap off the inning with a three-run homer, his third of the season and ninth of his career.

          Harding got a run in the fourth inning on RBI groundout by J.D Glenn, but Tech answered with two runs in its half of the inning on Houchin’s second two-run blast of the game.

          Senior second baseman Josh Holloway (Booneville, Ark.) cranked a solo homer in the fifth inning to give Wonder Boys a 12-4 lead.

          Harding pushed a run across in the sixth to close the gap to 12-5, but Tech plated three in the seventh inning to enforce the mercy rule. In the seventh, freshman shortstop Tyler Shaw (St. Mary’s, Ga.) led off the inning with a home run, while sophomore centerfielder Austin Gwatney (Sherwood, Ark) followed with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. Holloway followed with a single and would score Tech’s final run on a wild pitch.

          Tech outhit the Bison 18-6 in the game.

          Senior reliever Barrett Davis (North Little Rock, Ark.) pitched 5.1 innings of relief to get the win and improve to 4-3 on the season, allowing two runs, one earned on three hits with one walk and a strikeout.

          Brodie Brumley (6-4) took the loss for Harding, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 2.2 innings, walking one and fanning four.

          Gwatney, Holloway, and Houchin all had three hits in the game, while Houchin drove in four and Sanchez had 3 RBIs for the Wonder Boys in the win. Wisley went 2-for-3 with a home run to lead Harding.

          In the nightcap, Tech received six strong innings from sophomore left-hander Blaine Sims (Scott, Ark.) as the Wonder Boys completed the sweep.

Each side was held scoreless through the first four frames, but Harding broke through in the fifth with game’s first run. Will McDonald led off the inning with a double and would later score on a sacrifice fly by Glenn.

          Gwatney led off the bottom of the fifth with his first career home run and Hohler delivered a two-run blast later in the inning, staking the Wonder Boys to a 3-1 advantage.

The Wonder Boys added an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Shaw.

The Bison would score two runs in the seventh off the Wonder Boys bullpen but Davis would get Correa to fly out to right to nail down his first career save.

          Davis and junior pitcher Josh Floriani (Malvern, Ark.) both set a new record for single-season appearances as both came on to pitch for the 26th time this season in the nightcap.

Sims (2-6) picked up the win allowing one run on four hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts in six innings of action.

Kyle Cline (7-4) was handed the loss for Harding, allowing four run on nine hits in five inning of work, walking one and fanning six.

Hohler led the Wonder Boy offense going, 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Chase Presley went 2-for-4 to lead Harding.

The two teams will be back in action tomorrow for the regular-season finale beginning at 1 p.m. at Tech Field. It will also be Senior Day as it will be the last home baseball game for Tech’s five seniors; Davis, Holloway, Hohler, Sanchez and pitcher Tyler Mattox (Conway, Ark.). All five seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to the game.

-- Tech Athletics --