(April 22, 2023) Mena, Arkansas - Coming off a split on the longest one-day trip at NOC-Tonkawa on Thursday, the Bucks returned home yesterday afternoon and was going for the their second series win of the season. The Bucks entered the day 8-18 in region play and are trying to punch their ticket to the Plains District Tournament in Enid, OK in May.
Game One
Hunter Alexander (Bigelow, AR) got the start on the mound for the Bucks to start the game and found himself in a first and third situation in the opening frame with no outs. He would get out of the jam with a strikeout, a pick off at first, and a ground out to be unscathed. He would remain that way until the top of the seventh inning. He found himself in a bases loaded jam and no outs. His day would be done, and the coaches called Ashton Perkins (Pearland, TX) out of the bullpen. With the tieing run on base and the leading run at the plate, Perkins recorded a strikeout, foul pop out, and another strikeout to secure the Bucks 3-0 win.
Alexander (3-2) pitched 6.0 innings, giving up 0 runs on 5 hits. The freshmen struck out 5 and walked a pair. Ashton Perkins picked up his first save of the season.
The Bucks offense came in the bottom of the second and third innings. After back-to-back singles in the second and a stolen base, Blaine Vaughan (Grandview, TX) hit a RBI single to open the scoring. After a walk, Cooper White (Benton, AR) reached on an error that plated another run for the Bucks. In the next frame, a leadoff single and another single advanced the runner to third base for Brayden Sites (Sheridan, AR). The SAU committ would hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-0, which would be the final score.
Game Two
After winning the rubber match, the Bucks were going for the series win. The game would be a low scoring affair through seven innings. Starting pitcher Jack Henry Pettit (Brookland, AR) went 6.0 innings and made an appearance in the seventh innings. He would give up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and struck out 6 in the no decision. At the time, the game was tied 2-2 midway through the seventh.
The Bucks would break that tie in the bottom of the frame on a solo home run by Brett Justice (Jacksonville, AR), his fourth of the season. With the lead, the Bucks put up another zero in the top of the eighth and came to the plate in the bottom half on a mission. The Bucks would blow open the game with an 8 spot and were a run away from ending the contest. Trent Smith (Longview, TX) finally check the box in the home run column with an absolute bomb over Vivian Street behind left field to make it 4-2. A hit-by-pitch and a pair of singles loaded the bases, and Justice plated a pair on a 2-RBI single. Trevor Flake (North Little Rock, AR) would this pick up an RBI on a single. Two hitters later, Caleb Bryant (North Little Rock, AR) would hit a 2-RBI double. After a hit-by-pitch, Trent Smith picked up his second RBI of the inning on a single to right field. To round out the scoring, Bryant scored on a wild pitch to make the final score of 11-2.
Trevor Flake also hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, along with a Trent Smith sacrifice fly.
Kirk Martinson (Shreveport, LA) (2-4) pitched an inning in the seventh to pick up his second win of the season. Jackson Wilson (Palestine, AR) came on and pitched the final 2.0 innings, recording 3 strikeouts.
In the win, Cooper White has now tied the single season hit-by-pitch and stolen base records with 9 games remaining this season.
The Bucks are now 10-18 in Region II and are making a push toward the tournament in May. The Bucks return home next weekend for a 4-game series with SAU Tech on Thursday and Saturday. All games will be played at Union Bank Field. The men will travel to Eastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday for their last mid-week game of the year. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm.
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