OKLAHOMA CITY – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Baseball belted six homers over two games Saturday at the Lions swept the doubleheader against Oklahoma Christian, winning 12-11 in the opener and 8-5 in the nightcap.
UAFS will close out the regular season April 29-May 1 at Crowder Field against St. Mary's with a berth in the Lone Star Conference Tournament on the line.
UAFS 12, Oklahoma Christian 11
The Lions built up a 12-2 lead and held off a late Eagle rally for the win in game one. The Eagles got back in the game with seven runs in the sixth inning and scored twice in the seventh before the Lions ended the game with OC having the bases loaded.
Infielder Nolan Riley got the scoring started in the first inning with a two-run homer to left, his first of the season. The Lions then proceeded to load the bases and score a third run on a wild pitch.
After the Eagles scored twice in the second, the Lions scored nine runs from the third through sixth innings to extend the lead to 12-2.
The Lions scored twice in the third, with outfielder Kinner Brasher driving in a run with a triple to right center and then scoring on an RBI single by designated hitter Mac Moody. The fourth saw two more runs score on RBI doubles by Riley and infielder Brooks Sunny.
The fifth was the big inning for the Lions as the pushed across four runs. Outfielder Hunter Church cleared the bases with a one-out triple to right center and scored on a sac fly by Sunny. The Lions got their final run in the sixth on an RBI single by outfielder Cash Balentine to score Moody.
Reliever Jakob Petross snuffed out the OC rally by tossing the final 1.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts to earn his first save of the season. Logan Grant got the start on the mound and earned the win after pitching 5.1 innings and striking out six.
Six Lions drove in runs, with Church, Sunny and Riley all driving in multiple runs. Eight different players scored a run.
UAFS 8, Oklahoma Christian 5
The Lions hit five homers in game two to power past the Eagles for the sweep.
UAFS started the scoring in the first when Church reached on a double and later scored on an error. OC then scored three times in the second for a 3-1 lead before the Lion bats woke up.
Church would hit the first of his two homers in the third to bring the Lions within 3-2. He then gave the Lions the lead with a two-run blast in the top of the fifth.
The Lions hit three homers in the top of the sixth, starting with a two-run homer by Balentine. Infielder Blayse Quarnstrom then hit his first career homer with Sunny concluding the inning with a solo homer of his own.
Church paced the offense by going 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs with Quarnstrom tallying two hits and two runs, as well.
Petross followed up his save with a start in game two, tossing two innings. Trevor Johnson earned the win by pitching two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts. Brayden Ross picked up the save by limiting the Eagles to two runs over the final five frames.
