(March 15, 2024) Mena, Arkanasas - The Bucks were coming off a walk-off win on Tuesday against Seminole State and were winners of their last 7 of 8 games. The day started with just planning to play one game, but due to weather conditions, the Bucks and #16 South Arkansas played a doubleheader at Union Bank Field. The series will be concluded in April with 4 games.
Game One
The first game of the day was a pitcher's dual. Ethan Diaz (Minneola, FL) got the start on the mound for the Bucks, and he would go the distance, pitching 7.0 innings. He found himself in several situations with runners in scoring position, but three double plays on the day helped fight off the Stars.
The Bucks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Aiden McGinnis (Jasper, AL) solo home run over the scoreboard in right field. The next inning, the Bucks extended their lead with a pair of runs on a Jack Bilski (La Porte, TX) double to left field.
With the 3-0 lead, Diaz continued to pitch well and gave up runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings, but a strikeout ended the game, giving the Bucks the 3-2 win.
Ethan Diaz (2-2) evened his season record, striking out 7. He gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits.
Game Two
With the continued momentum, the Bucks wanted to win both games of the day, but the men found themselves fighting from behind early. South Arkansas had a 2-0 lead after just an inning off starting pitcher Clint Lafferty (Seguin, TX). The Bucks would fight back in the bottom of the second inning with a run on a Caden Brown (Van Buren, AR) sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 after a pair of innings.
With Lafferty settling in, the Bucks took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. After a 1 out single and stealing second base, Caleb Bryant (North Little Rock, AR) reached on an error that scored Diego Archila (Baton Rouge, LA). After a walk, Bryant stole third and then scored on a passed ball to make it 3-2 in favor of the Bucks.
The Stars wouldn't go away and scored a run in each of the last three innings. Lafferty's day was done after 4.1 innings, and Austin Rainey (Conway, AR) came on and pitched 2.0 innings. Robert Cheney (Texarkana, TX) pitched the final 0.2 innings of the game.
The Bucks were in need for some of their late inning magic, and the Bucks found it. Ian Smith (Bismarck, AR) led off with a double, before scoring on a Aiden McGinnis 1-out single. After another single, Luke Crumpler (Bentonville, AR) came on to run for McGinnis and made what some would call the play of the day. On a ground ball to the shortstop, Crumpler hesitated in front of the defender and forced an error that loaded the bases. With 2 outs, Ethan Perry (Benton, AR) walked to score a run. Next at-bat, Trevor Flake (North Little Rock, AR) pinch hit and came through on a RBI single to right field to once again walk it off for the Bucks, 6-5 over #16 South Arkansas.
Cheney (1-0) picks up his first win of the season in 0.2 innings of work. Lafferty struck out 4, while Rainey struck out a pair in the win.
The Bucks are now 11-15 overall and 7-1 in region play heading into next week's region series with ASU Mountain Home.
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