Alva Review-Courier -

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Ouachita Tiger baseball team split a pair of games with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon 5-3 and 2-7.

Every senior that played for Ouachita (13-33, 8-21 GAC) picked up a hit in the double header split against Southwestern Oklahoma State (22-20, 16-12 GAC). It was just the third time all season that Tigers had won back-to-back games and it was the first Great American Conference series victory since the East Central series back in early March.

Game One: OUA 5, SWOSU 3

The Ouachita seniors came out of the game fired up as they torched Southwestern pitching for three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Jakahari Howell (Arkadelphia, Ark.) singled to begin the inning and came around to score on an RBI single by Ty Owens (El Dorado, Ark.) in the next at bat. A few batters later and senior Victor Draijer (Heanstede, The Netherlands) drove in a pair of runs off a two-out double to right center field.

Ouachita carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Adam Bahloul (Maumelle, Ark.) ran into a bit of trouble as he hit the first batter of the inning. Moments later Brady Burtner hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in the Bulldogs first run of the contest.

In the top of the fifth inning Southwestern outfielder Marion McLean hit a ball over the head of a charging Tiger outfielder. The ball rolled all the way to the wall and McLean crossed home plate with an inside the park homerun.

Holding on to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth the Tigers offense struck again. Aaron Studdard (Denton, Texas) and Chandler Blake (Frisco, Texas) hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Howell then came through with a crucial RBI as he doubled down the left field line. Ouachita added another run in the inning a few batters later; Kyle Alexander (Conway, Ark.) hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield and Ouachita led 5-2 going into the seventh inning of play.

An RBI single by Jason Nichols brought the Bulldogs within two runs of the Tigers, but Ouachita blanked Southwestern the final two frames of the contest.

Bahloul went the distance for the second time this season, the junior hurler struck out a trio of batters in the victory.

Howell paced the Tigers offense in game one with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. The senior from Arkadelphia also picked up the go-ahead RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning. Studdard, Blake and Austin White (Arkadelphia, Ark.) all had 2- hit performances in the contest.

Tyler Tuck picked up the loss for the Bulldogs in game one. Meanwhile, Marion McLean led the Southwestern offense with a 2-for-2 day at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.

Game Two: OUA 2, SWOSU 7

Southwestern's offense came out swinging in the top of the first inning. Following a Daniel Richardson sacrifice fly to right field, Burtner hit a two-RBI double to left center field giving Southewestern a 3-0 advantage.

The Tigers responded though in the bottom of the inning. Alexander and White had back-to-back RBI singles to right field to bring the Tigers back within a run.

The contest remained a 3-2 score until the top of the third inning. With one away in the inning, Richardson singled through the left side of the infield to bring in an insurance run for the Bulldogs. Two batters later and McLean hit a sacrifice fly to right field giving Southwestern a three-run cushion.

Southwestern put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh inning, thanks, to an Alex Pimentel two-RBI double down the left field line.

The Ouachita rally fell short in the bottom of the seventh inning as Studdard grounded into a double play to end the game.

Ouachita will travel to Cleveland, Miss. on Tuesday afternoon to take on No.5/10 Delta State. The game will begin at 6 p.m.