Tied 4-4 going into the ninth inning Saturday, the University of Central Arkansas (17-19) claimed a series victory over Tennessee Tech (14-19) with a seven-run ninth inning in Nashville, Tenn.
The Bears scored their first two runs in the ninth inning on a wild pitch by Golden Eagles reliever Tyler Sylvester that scored Joshmar Doran, and on a throwing error when Kolby Johnson stole second base, scoring Bryce Dodd to give UCA a 6-4 lead. Jay Anderson added a sacrifice fly that scored Johnson, Tyler Smith hit an RBI double to left field and scored when Beau Orlando reached on the second fielding error of the inning. Marco Navarro then hit a two-run home run down the left-field line to give the Bears an 11-4 lead.
The Golden Eagles took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on a three-run home run by John Dyer, but the Bears responded in the third inning with an RBI double by Josh Ragan and a two-run home run by Smith to tie the game at 3-3. An RBI double down the left-field line by Nathan McMeans gave Tennessee Tech a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, but Smith's groundout in the eight scored Anderson to tie the game 4-4. Tennessee Tech's final run came on an RBI single by Dyer in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Navarro was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and 1 run scored, while Smith and Doran both went 2 for 5 for UCA. Reliever Connor Williams (2-1) earned the victory after allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts over 2 innings.
Starter Tanner Wiley lasted 1 inning, allowing Dyer's 3-run home run and 1 other hit to go with 2 walks and 1 strikeout. Taylor Anders steadied things in relief for the Bears, allowing 1 earned run on 7 hits with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts in his 6 innings of work.
Sports on 04/14/2019