February 4 (Mena, Arkansas) - The Rich Mountain Bucks played their home opener this afternoon at Union Bank Field at McMillan Park against the Eagles of Northeast Texas in a doubleheader. In the first game, the Bucks would lose the first game 9-6 and pick up the win, 25-7, in game 2 to split with the Eagles on the day.
The Bucks and Eagles squared off in game 1. The Bucks jumped out to a early lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, but it would be short lived. The Eagles would score 3 runs and never give the lead back. The Bucks would battle and tried to chip away in the bottom of the 5th inning. After a walk. Dan Taylor (Rogers, AR) would hit his first homer on the year to cut the lead to 6-5.
However, the Eagles would get all of those runs back led by a 2-run homerun. The Bucks fought back in the bottom of the 7th inning, but only could muster up one run. The Eagles took game 1, 9-6.
The story in game 2 was offense, and the Bucks had a bunch of it, including 5 homeruns and 22 hits. Luke Rice (Scott, AR) would homer twice on the day to pick up his third and fourth on the season. Rice wasn't the only Buck to swing a big stick. Three other Bucks would hit homeruns on the day: Luke Hindman (Sherwood, AR), Eli Garrison (North Little Rock, AR) and Brice Cagle (Sherwood, AR). Joining Rice, Hindman, and Garrison with multiple hits was Adam Quinn (Texarkana, TX), Mason Reynolds (Fort Worth, TX), and Daegan Covington (Taylor, AR).
The Eagles tallied 7 runs on 8 hits, but it wouldn't be enough. Picking up the win for the Bucks was Grant Shankle. He recorded 4 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk in the outing.
The Bucks are back in action at Northeast Texas CC in Mt. Pleasant, TX on Saturday, February 6th. First pitch is set for 1 pm.
#GOBUCKS