Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks baseball team split a double-header against Mississippi College on Saturday in Clinton, Miss.
Ozarks (22-18, 10-8) finishes regular season play as the No. 2 seed out of the East Division and will host Mary Hardin-Baylor (20-16, 14-7) in the first round of the American Southwest Conference tournament next weekend. Friday’s game will begin at 2:00 p.m. Game time for Saturday has not been determined. The weekend series will be best-of-three, and each contest will be nine innings. The Choctaws (16-23, 7-11) took game one by a score of 3-1, while the Eagles won game two, 9-6. Mississippi College ace Shawn Ashley pitched a complete game four-hitter in game one. Todd Koch had an RBI double in the top of the seventh. Robby Finnell (4-3) took the loss in a seven-inning, six-hit effort. A three-run homer by Cory Briggs in the ninth lifted the Eagles to a win in game two. Trailing 6-5 going into the ninth, Briggs provided the heroics as he blasted a three-run shot over the left field fence. Logan Kizer recorded an RBI single before Briggs’ at-bat to tie the score at 6-6. Reliever John Scheuring then shutdown the Choctaws in the bottom half of the inning by striking out two and forcing a groundout. Scheuring (3-1) received the win after pitching the final three innings. He finished with six strikeouts. The Choctaws had a 6-3 lead after seven innings, but Ozarks scored twice in the eighth on two hits. Bruce Cameron had a sacrifice fly and Arturo Perez had an RBI single. Briggs finished 2 for 5 with 3 RBI. Cameron and Scott Dietz each went 2-for-5.
Topics: Athletics