Arkansas Tech picked up one baseball victory and suffered two one-run losses during the Mulerider Classic at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia on Saturday and Sunday.
The Wonder Boys (3-4) started the event with a 3-2 loss to Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday.
UA-Monticello jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings. Nate Wilder scored on a passed ball in the fourth inning and Cesar Abreu scored on a bases-loaded walk to Wilder in the fifth inning to cut the Boll Weevils’ lead to 3-2.
UAM relief pitcher Brent Noble made sure that was as close as Arkansas Tech would get.
Noble pitched four scoreless innings to record his first save of the year and make a winner out of Boll Weevil starter Kenny Marshall (2-0). Marshall struck out seven over five innings.
Aaron Luchterhand (1-1) was the tough-luck losing pitcher for the Wonder Boys. He limited UAM to three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits in seven innings. Luchterhand struck out eight.
Arkansas Tech bounced back with a 5-3 victory over Lindenwood University on Sunday.
The Wonder Boys notched 12 base hits in the win, all of which were singles. Zach Thomas went 3-for-4, while Chris Reese (photographed), Landon Sullins and Jonathan Finnegan had two hits apiece. Wilder scored two runs.
Arkansas Tech scored two runs in the second inning and three runs in the third. The Wonder Boys spent the rest of the game protecting that lead.
Starting pitcher Caleb Powers (1-0) worked five and two-thirds innings to pick up the win. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned.
Tech’s Stephen Thompson worked three and one-third scoreless innings of relief for his first save of the season.
Arkansas Tech’s final game at the Mulerider Classic resulted in a 10-9 loss to Southern Arkansas on Sunday evening.
The Muleriders won it on David Allday’s RBI single down the right field line in the bottom of the eighth inning and a scoreless ninth inning from SAU relief pitcher Justin Thomas.
Madison Beaird, Zach Thomas, Scott Sammons, Thomas Biocic and Reese had two hits apiece for the Wonder Boys, who led 9-5 after six innings.
Arkansas Tech was scheduled to make its 2012 baseball home debut with a doubleheader against Northeastern State University on Tuesday, Feb. 14, but that game has been cancelled because of winter weather in the Arkansas River Valley on Monday.
Tech will host Lindenwood University for a non-conference three-game series at Tech Field this weekend. The two sides will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, and a single game starting at noon on Sunday, Feb. 19.
Click here to learn more about Wonder Boys baseball.
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