RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The opening weekend of the 2024 Great American Conference Baseball Championships wrapped up with Arkansas Tech eliminating Ouachita Baptist and top-seeded Arkansas-Monticello rallying in extra innings to defeat Oklahoma Baptist.
(1) ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO vs (8) OKLAHOMA BAPTIST - WEEVILS WIN 2-1
Game 3 - Arkansas-Monticello 8, Oklahoma Baptist 7 (11)
In a back-and-forth game that featured four ties, Arkansass-Monticello finally ousted Oklahoma Baptist in 11 innings when Roc Hawthorne scored on a Bison throwing error.
Hawthorne led of the bottom of the 11th with a walk. He took second and third on two wild pitches. Cade Cancilla grounded to third but the throw went high allowing Hawthorne to score the winning run.
UAM scored three runs in the second inning. The Bison responded with two home runs by Alex Schroeder - a three-run home run in the third inning to tie the game and a two-run shot in the fifth for a 5-3 lead.
After the Weevils tied the game in their half of the fifth inning, the Bison retook the lead by virtue of a home run from Camron Grant. Camden Tanner put UAM back in front with a two-run home run in the seventh inning. The Bison tied the game in the top of the ninth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Jayden Shafer.
Game 2 - Oklahoma Baptist 11,Arkansas-Monticello 6
Oklahoma Baptist forced the third game by jumping out on Arkansas-Monticello, 11-4, before rain suspended the game to Monday. Gabe Irwin, Alex Schroeder, Will Joseph and Isiah Lissade all hit home runs.
On the mound, Nolan Feazle tossed four innings while allowing just one earned run.
(2) ARKANSAS TECH vs (7) OUACHITA BAPTIST - WONDER BOYS WIN 2-1
Game 3 - Arkansas Tech 7, Ouachita Baptist 2
The No. 2-seed Arkansas Tech baseball team took care of business on Monday afternoon at home as the decisive third game of their best-of-three series with No. 7-seed Ouachita Baptist resumed and ultimately ended with Tech winning 7-2.
Play resumed on Monday with Tech holding a 3-2 fourth-inning lead. Markos Cabranes finished his at-bat, but grounded out to shortstop for the first out. The second out was picked up in the next at-bat, but Logan Schwenke extended the inning with a first-pitch single through the left side.
Nick Jones then drew a four-pitch walk to pass the baton to Christian Olea, who singled home Schwenke to make it a 4-2 game. Keaton Ranallo followed with a RBI single himself to give the Wonder Boys a three-run lead, 5-2. After Brendyn Bard was hit-by-a-pitch by the new Ouachita pitcher, Shane Poe drove in the third run of the frame for Tech with a single.
In the top of the fifth, Grant Shahan returned to the mound after he initially came on in the top of the third back on Saturday. Shahan would work a scoreless inning and was quickly given another run of insurance in the bottom of the fifth on a leadoff home run by Markos Cabranes.
That ended up being the last of the scoring for either team as Shahan pitched the game through the sixth before handing off to Simon Murray, who tossed a dominant seventh inning. Will Horton then made his third appearance of the series in the eighth and retired the Tigers in order.
In the top of the ninth, Horton walked the leadoff batter, but then retired the next three batters to put the finishing touches on the win for the Wonder Boys.