The 17th-ranked Ouachita Baptist University baseball team completed a doubleheader sweep of Stillman Saturday as Ouachita won the opener, 12-5, and took the second game, 6-4, at Rab Rodgers Field.
Ouachita (13-5) jumped out Stillman with nine runs in the first two innings, including five in the first in the opener.
Blake Lockwood began the first with a double to right and scored on a two-run homer by Matt Burton, who went 2-for-3. Will Gowdy, who went 2-for-4, followed with a single through the left side and scored on a double by Brock Green. Green, who went 3-of-4, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rudy Jovanovski. With one out, JoeDan Poulter singled up the middle, while Maus, who was 2-for-3, doubled to right-center to plate Poulter.
In the second, Ouachita scored four runs on three hits to grab a 9-0 lead.
Burton led off the frame with a double to center and Gowdy reached on an error. Both advanced a base on a balk, while Burton scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Jovanovski. Poulter followed with a base hit up the middle to plate Gowdy and Maus connected on his first homer of the season – a two-run shot to center – to give Ouachita a 9-0 advantage.
Stillman (6-9) trimmed the margin to 9-1 in the third and 9-2 in the middle of the fourth, but Ouachita answered with two in the bottom of the fourth and one in the bottom of the fifth to take a 12-2 lead.
Stillman scored three in the top of seventh, but that was all it could muster off Ouachita starter Chase Baran.
Baran (3-0) pitched a complete-game, going all seven innings. He was tagged for five runs on five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.
Joey Mohler took the loss, going six innings. He surrendered 12 runs (eight earned) on 15 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
In the second game, Stillman scored two runs in the top of the first to grab an early 2-0 lead.
Ouachita rallied in the bottom half of the inning by scoring three runs on five hits.
With one out, Burton doubled to left-center and advanced to third on a passed ball. Gowdy followed with a double down the line in left to plate Burton. Green walked and both advanced a base on a passed ball. Jovanovski laced a single to right to plate Gowdy and with two down, Poulter singled through the left side to score Green to give Ouachita a 3-2 advantage.
However, Stillman tied the game at 3 in the top of the second.
Ouachita broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth by scoring two runs on three hits to grab a 5-3 lead.
With one out, Drew Wurzelbacher walked and moved to second on a base hit to center by Lockwood. After a strikeout to Burton, Gowdy reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Green ripped a 1-1 pitch up the middle to plate Wurzelbacher and Lockwood to break the 3-3 tie.
A Wes Windham homer over the wall in left, cut the Ouachita lead to 5-4 in the top of the fifth. That would as close as Stillman would get as Ouachita added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-4 lead into the seventh.
Stillman loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh, but were unable to get the big hit.
Gowdy (5-0) gave up four runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in five innings for Ouachita. Sean O’Rourke worked a perfect sixth, while Patrick Lemmond earned his four save by working the seventh.
Hampton Gibbs gave up six runs on 10 hits in six innings. He finished with five walks and a strikeout.
Ouachita concludes the three-game series 1:00 p.m., Sunday, March 1 at Rab Rodgers Field against Stillman College. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
