Clarksville, Ark.-No. 4 UT-Tyler crushed back-to-back-to-back home runs in the second inning and later added eight runs in the eighth to upend the Eagles 17-10 in American Southwest Conference action Friday.
Holding a 6-0 lead after two and one-half innings, Ozarks (8-13, 3-4) answered with three runs in the bottom of the third. Rusty Cordell singled to get the Eagles jump started. With one out, Bruce Cameron drew a walk to move Cordell into scoring position. Cory Briggs then followed with an infield single to load the bases. Jeremy Hogan cashed in one run, while Todd Koch and Andrew Teaster each collected an RBI in the frame to trim the deficit to 6-3.
The Eagles appeared to have a rally going in the bottom of the seventh with one out, but UT-Tyler (20-4, 4-0) forced an inning-ending double play. The Patriots then came back to put the game away, scoring eight runs in the top of the eighth to go up 16-3. Ozarks plated five runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Teaster and Michael Prusator recording a pair of RBI.
Teaster went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI to lead Ozarks.
Koch (0-3) absorbed the loss after tossing six innings. Koch fanned five to bring his season total to 33.
The Eagles will continue their series against the Patriots with a double-header tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m. Both games can be heard locally on KXIO 106.9 FM and on the web at www.kxio.nu.
Topics: Athletics