Arkansas Tech University’s 2018 baseball season ended in the semifinal round of the Great American Conference Tournament at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Okla., on Monday night.
Oklahoma Baptist University’s Jake Gozzo delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning that sent Blake Bloomfield home with the winning run in a 4-3 Bison victory over the Wonder Boys.
Arkansas Tech (29-23) had to come from behind to force that extra inning. A sacrifice fly by Riley Hickerson and a two-run single by Korey Thompson in the top of the ninth inning allowed the Wonder Boys to erase a 3-0 deficit.
Oklahoma Baptist’s winning run in the bottom of the 10th reached base on a lead-off walk. A single, a wild pitch and a walk loaded the bases with no one out, setting the stage for Gozzo’s heroics.
The Bison advanced to face Southern Arkansas University in the GAC Tournament championship round on Tuesday.
Arkansas Tech had eliminated Southwestern Oklahoma State University 9-5 earlier in the day on Monday to advance to its match-up with Oklahoma Baptist.
Nine different Wonder Boys had a base hit in the win over the Bulldogs. Thompson notched three runs batted in, while Cody Wescott and Shane Pollard recorded two RBIs apiece.
Jared Droll (3-1) provided Tech with four and one-third innings of relief pitching to earn the win. He struck out six SWOSU hitters. Nolan Withrow got the final out for his sixth save of 2018.
