Belton, Texas-Tyler Erickson pitched a complete game in Saturday?s 2-1 double-header opening win, but Mary Hardin-Baylor took game two 10-5 in Belton, Texas.
Erickson (3-1) went seven innings to notch his third complete game of the season. Sam Shook gave Erikson a run to work with after he doubled in Michael Prusator in the top of the second. Erickson ran into trouble in the bottom half of the inning when the Crusaders (8-5) loaded the bases with one out. But Erickson fanned back-to-back batters to end the threat. Ozarks (6-7) added an insurance run in the third when John Singler knocked in Mitchell Powers with a single. Mary Hardin-Baylor eventually scored in the sixth to trim the deficit to 2-1. The Crusaders then got a man on board with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Erickson forced the final two batters to fly out.
Erickson issued just two walks and allowed eight hits.
In game two, the Crusaders turned a 2-1 deficit into an 8-2 lead after a big third inning. Mary Hardin-Baylor would score seven runs on five hits in the third. Powers tripled in a pair of runs in the second to put Ozarks ahead 2-1. The Eagles cut it to 9-4 in the sixth on a Chris Young and Chris Driedric RBI single. Ozarks gained momentum in the ninth when it loaded the bases with one out. With two outs, Nick Brill pushed across Driedric with a single, but the Crusaders ended the game with a fly out.
Freddy Prince (0-4) suffered the loss for Ozarks.
Driedric finished 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Prusator and Jonathan Cox each had two hits.
Ozarks will travel to Richardson, Texas, to face Texas-Dallas March 9-10 in their American Southwest Conference opener.
Topics: Athletics