RUSSELLVILLE — The Arkansas Tech baseball team emphatically put the finishing touches on their weekend sweep at home against East Central as they scored 29 runs on 27 hits across both ends of their Saturday doubleheader.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Wonder Boys jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead through the first two innings of play thanks to two runs in the first and five runs in the second. The big hit in the first was a solo home run to right-centerfield off the bat of Nick Jones while the big hit in the second was a two-run single up the middle by Christian Olea.
ECU would score their first run of the game in the third inning, but by the fifth, the Wonder Boys had swelled their lead out to 10 runs, 11-1 as they scored three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth.
In the fourth, two runs scored on a bloop single to shallow center off the bat of Brendyn Bard. He later scored on a single the other way through the right side by Shane Poe. In the fifth, Bard collected another RBI with a double down the right field line.
The Tigers would temporarily stave off the 10-run rule for a second-straight game as they scored a run in the top of the sixth, but the game still ended in seven innings as Brandon Bunton drove in the game-ending run on a based loaded single.
GAME TWO
Much like the opener, the Wonder Boys wasted little time in getting their offense going as they struck for five runs in the bottom of the first and were up 11-0 through three innings.
In the first, Markos Cabranes led off with a home run to left. He would later come back to the plate and collected another RBI for Tech's fifth run of the game. This time, however, it came the painful way as he was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded.
In the second, all three runs for the Wonder Boys scored on a three-run home run to the opposite field by Keaton Ranallo. In the third, Ranallo had another RBI as he singled up the middle. Before that, Christian Olea doubled home a run and after Ranallo's RBI, Brendyn Bard hit a sacrifice fly.
ECU would score their lone run of the game in the fifth.
Tech would then go on to score six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to give them a season-high in runs scored with 17.
In that sixth inning, Brandon Bunton hit a two-run home run, Sawyer Duddleston had a RBI single, Shane Poe drove in two on a double and Tyler Sardelli also doubled home a run.
UP NEXT
The Wonder Boys will now prepare to host nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma in mid-week game on Tuesday, April 16. First-pitch from Baswell Field is scheduled for 3 p.m.
