Clarksville, Ark.-Chris Driedric homered and tripled to spark an 18-hit day and help the Eagles win a two-game set against Central Baptist College Tuesday afternoon.
The Eagles (14-22) took game one 7-4 and then won the nightcap 9-5. Ozarks has been hot of late winning five of their last six games.
Driedric helped Ozarks in the first of two come-from-behind victories Tuesday in game one with a solo home run in the first inning. With one out, Mitchell Powers connected for a two-run homer to put Ozarks ahead 3-0 after one. But Central Baptist (21-15) evened the score in the third and eventually took the lead in the fourth by manufacturing one run. Central Baptist would threaten in the fifth when Clint Howard doubled to left field. Jonathan Rodgers then followed with a shallow single to center field, but Driedric kept the Mustangs off the board with a perfect throw to home plate to get Howard out. Ozarks took that momentum into the bottom half of the frame and scored four runs off four hits to take a 7-4 advantage. Tony Morales highlighted the offensive outburst with a two-run double.
Freddy Prince (1-5) earned the win after throwing six innings as the starter. Prince was charged with just one earned run and three strikeouts. Ian Bryan closed out the game to earn his second save of the season.
Driedric finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
In game two, Ozarks had to overcome a 4-0 deficit to earn another come-from-behind win. The Eagles exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the third to take a 8-4 lead. Prince blasted a three-run homer to get the offense rolling. Chris Young, John Singler, Peyton Johnigan, Rodger Montano and Driedric each had RBI in the frame. The Mustangs added a run in the fifth, but Johnigan responded with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to put Ozarks in front 9-5.
Jeremy Jones (2-0) received the win in relief. Jones tossed three innings and fanned two. Oscar Dominguez and Bryan each threw one inning.
Prince drove in three runs, while Singler finished 3-for-3.
Ozarks will host Mississippi College this weekend in a three-game conference series. Saturday’s game has been designated as “Senior Day” for the Eagles.
Topics: Athletics