Clarksville, Ark.-David Smith's two-run jack in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Eagles to a 12-10 win over Hendrix College Tuesday in non-conference play.
Smith’s bomb over the left field wall was his fourth of the season and couldn’t have come at a better time. With Ozarks (3-3) up 10-8 after seven innings, Hendrix (3-5) would tie the game in the top of the eighth off a sacrifice fly and an error. The Warriors could have done more damage with runners on, but John Scheuring struck out the final two batters to end the inning. The Eagles had their first batter reach base on a walk in the bottom of the eighth, but were unable to scratch across a run. In the ninth, Hendrix put a runner on first and second with two outs, but Scheuring got Daniel Ward to strikeout swinging to set up Smith’s heroics. Chris Driedric started the bottom of the ninth with a single and Smith finished it with his second shot of the day. His first came in the sixth to put Ozarks ahead 7-5.
The Eagles cranked out four home runs against Hendrix, with Bruce Cameron and Jeremy Hogan each homering once. Cameron’s two-run shot in the third got the Eagles within 4-3, and Hogan’s blast put Ozarks ahead 6-5 in the fifth.
Smith finished 3-for-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. Cameron, Hogan and Todd Koch each had 2 hits apiece. Hogan drove in 3 runs. Schreuring (1-0) received the win after working two innings in relief. Travis Conner logged four and one-third innings in his first collegiate start and fanned three.
Ozarks will host American Southwest Conference foe McMurry University in a three-game set starting Friday at 2:00 p.m.
Topics: Athletics