Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks baseball team took No. 14 Texas Lutheran University to extra innings, but it was the Bulldogs who came out on top 8-7 in 12 innings of play on Friday afternoon.
Ozarks (5-3, 0-0) trailed 5-2 after six, but stormed back in the seventh to score twice on three hits. David Smith led off the inning with a single, and then stole second. With two outs, Bruce Cameron singled in Smith, and Cameron raced to second on the throw. Robby Finnell followed with a single to score Cameron, which cut the deficit to 5-4. The Bulldogs (8-0, 0-0) answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to give them a 7-5 cushion. The eighth inning was also productive for Ozarks as they put three on the board to tie the contest at 7-7. The Eagles only had one hit in the inning, but benefited from two Bulldog errors. After four scoreless innings by the Bulldogs, Texas Lutheran’s Brandon Opheim singled to lead off the bottom of the twelfth, and advanced to second on an error. Marcus Melnar then recorded the game-winning hit to help Texas Lutheran remain undefeated. Cameron and Finnell each had two hits to pace Ozarks. Finnell knocked in two runs. Cameron (0-1) received the loss after pitching one and two-third innings. Curt Dixon started the game and went 6.0 innings. Neither team played well in the field, with Texas Lutheran committing four errors and Ozarks finishing with two. Ozarks will face the Bulldogs in a double-header tomorrow beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Topics: Athletics