NAIA
[Baseball] #2 Science & Arts Has Season Come to an End on Day Two of NAIA Opening Round
SHREVEPORT, La. – On Tuesday, the No. 2 seed University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (36-15, 17-7 SAC) continued play in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round and had their season brought to a close, with a double-header split. The Drovers opened the day with a dominant performance over the No. 5 seed Fisher College (29-30, 4-9 CAC), coming away with a 13-2 victory. USAO did not have the same fortune in the second elimination game of the day against the host, dropping a season-ending 10-2 decision to No. 1 LSU Shreveport (48-6, 31-2 RRAC). GAME 1 vs #5 FISHER COLLEGE – After a slow start in yesterday's loss, the Drovers got rowdy early as Joey Pena (SR/Mustang, OK) bounced a shot off the left field fence for a standing triple, but was ultimately left stranded. Fortunately, the Drovers continued the attack, with a two-out rally in the top of the second inning, stringing together a few singles to take a 2-0 lead. Fisher immediately responded by sending their first pitch of the second inning over the left field fence, but were otherwise held scoreless in the inning. Despite an offensive push by the Falcons in the fourth inning, both teams were held scoreless over the next two innings. The Drovers AGAIN strung together a two-out rally to tally up the runs. The Drovers made use of both sides of the outfield to produce three runs. Peyton McDowall (JR/Cibolo, TX) tripled to score two and Gage Gaunt (SO/Clinton, OK) again extended the team's lead with a double, to put the Drovers up 5-1. The Falcons fired back with one run in the bottom half, but Science & Arts still held the advantage 5-2 through five full innings. Jake Womack (SR/Chickasha, OK) opened the sixth inning with a solo-shot over the left field fence to ignite another offensive run for Science & Arts. The Drovers piled on seven runs in the inning off a double, a single, and a two-run homerun from Gage Gaunt. Another solid hit from Gaunt in the 8th inning would tack on the final run for the Drovers, advancing them through the loser's bracket to face hometown team No. 1 LSU Shreveport. Science & Arts had no trouble getting the bats going. The team combined for a total of 15 hits, led by Gaunt's near perfect outing of 4-for-5 with two runs scored. Womack and Pena eached knocked three hits, while McDowall and Luke Lewis (SO/Ft. Cobb, OK) each added a pair. Brock Henderson (JR/Chickasha, OK) had one hit through his four opportunities, but made the most passes around the diamond, putting up three runs for the Drovers. Josh Harrel (JR/Cashion, OK) commanded the mound through all 9.0 innings. Harrel's 9-strikeout performance improved him to 6-4 on the season. GAME 2 vs #1 LSU-SHREVEPORT – The Pilots used a big third inning to create enough distance to cruise to victory in the elimination game. LSU Shreveport took an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning, but the Drovers quickly knotted the score at 1-1 with a RBI-single from Joey Pena, bringing in Luis Pelayo (SR/Santa Cruz, Aruba).LSUS struck for five runs in the third inning, to take a commanding 6-1 lead. The Drovers cut the deficit to 6-2 with Gage Gaunt's solo-homer in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, the Pilots regained momentum in the sixth inning, bringing across three more runs, prior to adding one final insurance run in the seventh.Despite suffering the loss, the Drovers did produce more hits in the game, by a margin of 6-5. Luis Pelayo led the way on offense, going 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Gage Gaunt blasted his 16th homerun of the season as he concluded 1-4. Brandon Shumway (SR/Chickasha, OK) went 1-2 with a walk, while Joey Pena went 1-4 with a run batted in. Gabriel Arroyo (SO/Arecibo, Puerto Rico) went 1-3 and stole a base.Sean Craig (SR/Daly City, CA) suffered the loss on the mound, surrendering four earned runs in 2.2 innings of work. Hagen Earls (JR/Summerfield, OK) delivered 4.1 innings of relief, followed by Brett Lorah (SR/Elgin, OK) for the final 2.0 innings. WHAT'S NEXT?The Drovers will now head into the off-season and prepare for the 2023 campaign.Congrats on yet another fantastic season! MORE INFO ON THE TOURNAMENT'ƒ CLICK HEREhttp://www.usaoathletics.com/article/3249 Stay up to date on all Science & Arts Athletics news by following us on our media platforms!Athletics Website: www.usaoathletics.comLive-stream: www.sacsportsnetwork.com/usao/YouTube: Drover AthleticsTwitter: @DroverAthleticsFacebook: @DroverAthleticsInstagram: @drover_athleticsGIPHY: www.giphy.com/USAODrovers