The third-ranked Ouachita Baptist University baseball team split a pair of games Saturday as the Tigers downed No. 23 West Alabama in the opener, 7-3, but fell to St. Joseph’s, 9-7, in 11 innings at Tartt Field.
Against West Alabama, Ouachita (11-4) used a five-run seventh to get the victory.
West Alabama struck first in the opener by scoring two runs off Tigers starter, but Ouachita tied the game at two in the top of the fourth.
In the frame, JoeDan Poulter, who was 1-for-3, walked with one out and Gowdy singled to left to more Poulter to second. Both advanced a base on a wild pitch. With two out, Brock Green, who went 2-for-4, laced a single, plating Poulter and Gowdy.
The Tigers broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh.
With one out in the inning, Matt Burton walked and stole second. Drew Wurzelbacher walked and Burton took third on a wild pitch. Blake Lockwood singled to center to score Wurzelbacher. After a pitching change, Burton and Lockwood advanced on stolen bases. Poulter walked to load the bases and Gowdy reached on an error to score Wurzelbacher and Lockwood. Rudy Jovanovski followed with a single to right to plate Gowdy, giving Ouachita a 7-2 lead.
West Alabama scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all they could get.
Gowdy (4-0) picked up the victory for Ouachita by going six innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Sean O’Rourke surrendered a run on three hits in two innings and Patrick Lemmond came in to pitch the ninth by recording a walk and a pair of strikeouts.
Matt Hill (2-2) worked 6 1/3 innings to take the loss for West Alabama. He was tagged for five runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Colter Millican and J.B. Black worked in relief.
Against St. Joseph’s, the Pumas raced out to a 2-0 lead through the middle of the second inning, but Ouachita tied it at 2 in the bottom of the inning.
Luke Hardcastle, who was 1-for-4, began the frame with a walk and advanced to second on an error by the catcher. With one out, Wurzelbacher singled to right second to plate Hardcastle. Wurzelbacher, who advanced to second on the play, scored on a double to left-center by Lockwood, who went 2-for-5, tying the game at 2.
The Pumas scored two in the top of the third, but Ouachita cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers used a three-run fifth to grab a 6-4 advantage.
Green, who went 4-for-6, started the inning with a double to right-center and scored on Burton’s triple down the line in right. With one out, Drew Maus, who went 1-for-5, doubled to center to plate Burton. Wurzelbacher, who was 3-for-4, followed with a base hit to right to move Maus to third. Lockwood reached on an error, allowing Maus to score.
St. Joseph’s tied the game at 6 with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth and grabbed a 7-6 advantage on a solo home run by Matt Foltz off Ouachita reliever Payne Spence.
The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth as Gowdy singled to center to begin the inning. Rudy Jovanovski reached on a fielder’s choice as Gowdy was out at third. After a stolen base by Jovanovski, Green doubled down the line in left to tie the game at 7.
St. Joseph’s finally broke the 7-7 tie in the top of the 11th as Nate Weglarz hit a two-run homer off Ouachita reliever Zach Treece to give the Pumas a 9-7 lead.
Jared Hershberger started on the mound for the Tigers, going five innings. He was tagged for five runs on five hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. Spence pitched three innings, giving up two runs on three hits with three strikeouts. Treece (0-1) also worked three innings, surrendering two runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Chase Sonen started for Pumas, going four innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Ed Schlueter, Eric Meyerchick, Tyler Buhling and Clay Tingley worked in relief.
Ouachita concludes the four-game stretch at West Alabama by playing 11:00 a.m., Sunday, Feb. 22 against St. Joseph’s at Tartt Field. The game will be available to watch through live stats on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
