The Ouachita Tigers and Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm baseball teams came together on Sunday for a single game to cap off their three game conference series. The Tigers won the first two of the series, but Southern Nazarene was finally able to take one in the rubber match, winning by a score of 9-3.
The Tigers (17-17-1, 9-12 GAC) were outgunned by the Crimson Storm (13-21, 7-17 GAC), despite recording more hits than the opposition. The Tigers put up 12 hits in the game to SNU’s 9, but they weren’t able to combat a three-run sixth inning and a five-run eighth inning from the Crimson Storm.
Ouachita led off the scoring in the third, when Keegan Ghidotti walked, allowing Tyler Faught to score from third base.
A solo home run from Southern Nazarene in the fourth would tie the game at one, but the Tigers fired back in the top of the sixth, when Duncan Collins grounded out to shortstop, allowing Faught to cross home and give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
The bottom of the sixth changed the course of the game though, as four hits and three runs for Southern Nazarene gave them a 4-2 lead. One run came from a solo home run, with the other two coming off of an RBI single.
The Tigers came out and scored again in the top of the seventh, when Jace Melby singled up the middle, scoring Chris Tavares and cutting the lead to just one run, but the Tigers were unable to plate another runner from that point on.
Southern Nazarene put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with a five run surge. They notched three hits, including a double and two singles, en route to their five spot on the scoreboard.
The Tigers will look to begin another win streak beginning on Tuesday, when they face off with the University of Arkansas-Monticello in a mid-week non-conference match-up that is scheduled for 3 p.m. That game will take place at Rab Rodgers Field in Arkadelphia.
The Tigers will then look forward to a weekend conference series with the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m.
