ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Southern Nazarene saw its first Great American Conference matchup Saturday afternoon as Ouachita Baptist hosted the Storm (1-10, 0-2 GAC), only to claim victory in both games as the Tigers () won 4-1 and 5-4 in both games of the doubleheader.
Game 1
Game 1 saw a slower start as both teams remained scoreless the first two innings. Ouachita eventually broke the stall as they sent one home in the third to make it 1-0. The Tigers would score two more in the 5th, leaving SNU to trail 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
The Storm offense finally woke up in the top of the sixth as Brian Brown hit a bomb over to left center, giving SNu their first trip across the plate with a 3-1 reading on the scoreboard.
That was the last of the runs SNU would see that game as Ouachita snuck another run in the seventh to put them up by three with two more innings left up for grabs.
The Storm struggled to keep the bats awake and Ouachita claimed Game 1 of the doubleheader with a final 4-1 score.
Brown served as the offensive leader for SNU, finishing 1-4 and responsible for SNU's single run that game with his home run that afternoon. DJ Van Atten finished 2-2 while Jonathan Crist and finished 1-3. Drake Irby, EJ Taylor and Peyton Vinard finished 1-4 while Tyler Broyles finished 1-2.
Casey Minchey saw the most innings at the mound, pitching through five total and recording four strikeouts. Zach Isham, Patrick Hine, and Hutch Underwood all tagged in for the relief, pitching a combined three innings tallying two strikeouts.
Game 2
It was a quick turnaround for the Storm as Game 2 began shortly after. Ouachita recorded the first three runs of the game all in the second inning.
The offensive quickly subsided for the Tigers moving in the third, as Brian Brown homered once again down the left field line, waving EJ Taylor in to score and the Storm were back within one at 2-3.
At the top of the fifth, SNU was feeling hot. Entwistle tripled to left field sending Jonathan Crist home and the game was tied at three a piece. The momentum didn't stop there as EJ Taylor struck one to left center, sending Entwistle across the plate and SNU recorded their first lead of the game with a 4-3 advantage over OBU.
The Tigers took advantage of an SNU error in the bottom of the 7th, sneaking in one more run to send the game to another inning. SNU couldn't get the ball to fly on the offensive end, and the Tigers closed out Game 2 with one last run to send the score to 5-4, leaving them with another victory that afternoon.
Brown had the hot bat as he finished 1-2 while recording another home run for the day and two RBI's. Taylor finished 3-3 while tallying one run and RBI a piece.
Entwistle also kick started the offense for the Storm, finishing 1-4 while recording a run and RBI as well. Crist finished 1-3, also adding a run.
Payne Maga started at the mound, pitching through five total innings and recorded three strikeouts. Kasen Jackson, Patrick Hine, and Cobey Gorell also saw some time at the bumb, combining for a total of 1.5 innings and two strikeouts.
The Storm have one more shot at the Tigers as they will end the series with a single game Sunday, February 20th with first pitch at noon.
