(April 10, 2021) Mena, Arkansas – After splitting the games in Tonkawa on Thursday afternoon, the Bucks and Mavericks squared off this afternoon at Union Bank Field at McMillan Park. The Bucks picked up a game 1 win, 14-8, but fell in game 2, 12-4. The Bucks record is now 18-15 overall and 7-5 in region play.
Game 1
Randy Little Jr. (Pine Bluff, AR) got the start on the bump for the Bucks in the rubber match. He would surrender 2 runs in the top half of the 1st. The Bucks did get a run back in the bottom half. Cole Clark (Clarksville, AR) singled with 1 out. He would advance to 2nd on a wild pitch and to 3rd on a ground out. He would later score on a wild pitch with 2 outs. Bucks trailed 2-1 after an inning.
Little threw a scoreless 2nd inning, and the Bucks took the lead in the bottom of the 2nd. With 2 outs, Wesley Featherston (Hope, AR) singled. Next at-bat, Isaac Price (Siloam Springs, AR) hit his first homer of the season and his college career to plate 2 runs. Bucks lead 3-2 after 2 innings.
Tonkawa would add another run in the 3rd inning before the Bucks added 2 more runs. Mason Reynolds (Fort Worth, TX) led off with a double to left field and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. Cole Clark would plate Reynolds on a sacrifice fly to right field. Two hitters later and 2 outs, Luke Rice would hit a towering homer over the centerfield fence. Bucks lead 5-3.
Little gave up a 2-run homer in the top of the 4th inning to tie the game at 5-5 and held the Bucks scoreless in the bottom half. After a scoreless 5th inning, the Mavs scored 3 runs and chased Little from the game. Keelan Hodge (Junction City, AR) came on to pitch and got out of the inning. Tonkawa held a temporary lead, 8-5.
In the bottom half of the 6th, the Bucks exploded for a big inning. Rice reached on a 1 out single. Two hitters later and 2 outs, the Bucks got back-to-back walks to load the bases. Isaac Price hit a bases clearing double to the left field corner. Next at-bat, Preston Lee (Maumelle, AR) reached on a error that put runners on the corners. Mason Reynolds then singled to score Price and advanced Lee to 3rd base. Reynolds would steal second before Cole Clark walked to load the bases again. Daegan Covington (Taylor, AR) would pick up 3 RBIs on a pop fly down the right field line. The lineup turned over and Luke Rice was hit by a pitch. Dan Taylor came to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd. He would single to right centerfield to plate Covington. Rylee Huie (Pottsville, AR) then singled to right field on a curveball to score Rice from 2nd. A strikeout ended the inning, and the Bucks lead 14-8 heading into the final inning.
In the bottom half, Hodge struck out the first 2 hitters he faced and got a pop up to himself to end the game. Bucks win 14-8.
In the win, Keelan Hodge (3-0) threw 1.2 innings, giving up no runs on 1 hit and struck out 2 hitters.
Game 2
James McCormick (Benton, AR) got the start in game 2. The Mavs were able to get a couple runs in the top half, but the Bucks would get 1 in the bottom of the inning. Mason Reynolds led off with a walk and then stole 2nd base before advancing to 3rd. Cole Clark would plate Reynolds on a sacrifice fly to cut into the lead, 2-1, after an inning of play.
Both team would put up zeros in the 3rd and 4th innings. McCormick put up another in the top half of the 4th. The Bucks tied the game in the bottom half on a solo homer by Daegan Covington. NOC would add 3 run in the top of the 5th. The Bucks did get one of those back in the bottom half. With 2 outs, Preston Lee hit a solo jack to left centerfield to cut the Tonkawa lead to 5-3 after 5 innings
After a scoreless 6th, McCormick recorded another scoreless inning. The Bucks added a run in the bottom of the 7th. Dan Taylor led off with a double to centerfield. With 1 out, Rylee Huie advanced Taylor to 3rd on a single to left field. With Barrett Sparks (North Little Rock, AR) pinch running for Huie, both runners advanced on a wild pitch that scored Taylor. Bucks trailed 5-4 after 7.
After recording what appeared to be 2 outs, McCormick hit a batter to load the bases. Then, a single to left field scored 2 runs before he was chased from the game. Cooper Perry (Avinger, TX) came in on relief and recorded a strikeout and 2 flyouts to get out of the inning unscathed. The Bucks went in order as the score was 7-4 heading into the final inning.
Perry came back out in the 9th inning. He would give up 2 homers and 5 runs before being chased. Carson Crawford (Humnoke, AR) came in on relief and would get a strikeout to end the Mavs attack. Bucks trail 12-4 going in to the bottom of the 9th.
The Bucks got a runner on, but a pop up ended the game. Bucks fall 12-4.
In the loss, James McCormick (2-4) pitched 7 innings, giving up 7 runs (4 earned) and walked 3.
#GOBUCKS