Clarksville, Ark.-Freshman pitcher Brett Wood gave up only five hits in seven innings of work and Cory Briggs hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second as the University of the Ozarks defeated Mid-America Christian University 7-3 on Tuesday afternoon at Lonnie R. Qualls Field.
<#IMAGE:1#>Wood (1-0) looked strong in his first collegiate start, giving up only one run, striking out two and allowing only one walk. Wood never let the Evangels get close, forcing three double play balls and making the visitors hit into numerous groundouts. Mid-America Christian, however, did hit a solo home run early in the non-conference affair to take a 1-0 lead. The Eagles (9-8, 0-0) answered in the bottom half of the second when Briggs hit a line drive shot over the left field fence to give Ozarks a 3-1 advantage. The homer scored both Jimmy Pannell and David Isom. It was Briggs’ second long-ball of the season. Ozarks added a run in the third when Isom singled in Brad Broussard. The Eagles got one more in the fourth on a Broussard RBI single. Ozarks tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh when Todd Koch and Robby Finnell singled through the left side of the infield to score one each. The Evangels made things interesting in their final at-bat by putting the tying run on deck, but freshman pitcher Bill Smith forced a fly out to end the game, giving him his first save of the season. Briggs led the Eagles at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs. Koch ended 3-for-5. The Eagles will again host Mid-America Christian tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
Topics: Athletics