SEARCY, Ark. – The East Central University baseball team opened their final GAC road series with a bang, fending off Harding 7-6 in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon.
The game sat gridlocked 0-0 through the first two innings until Harding's solo homer in the bottom of the third put the Bisons up 1-0.
The Tigers immediately responded in the next frame with a home run of their own, though, as
Duncan Key blasted one over the left field wall to tie the game one apiece.
While Harding's offensive action stalled, ECU continued to push forward as an RBI single from
Cooper Hunt in the top of the fifth and a solo homer from
Nick Blankenship in the seventh gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
The Bisons worked through a few hits in the next two innings, tabbing on a run in the seventh and eighth inning to tie the game 3-all and force the extra innings, but the Tigers refused to back down.
In the top of the tenth, Hunt drew a walk and stole second before
Christian Whitaker was intentionally walked to have ECU runners at first and second base. Then, Dawerlyn Amancio stepped up and hit a three-run bomb over left center to double their lead 6-3. With two outs,
Kyle Busker continued the home run rally with a solo one of his own to bring the Tigers' advantage to 7-3 heading into the final stanza.
Trailing by four, Harding threatened a comeback as they managed to drive in three runs to get the game back to within one at 7-6. However, a diving catch from
Britton Sperry in the outfield stopped the Bisons from doing any more damage, and ECU secured game one of the series with a 7-6 win.
ECU starting pitcher
Bryan Terry went the distance, giving a strong 8.2 innings of effort on the mound that allowed only three runs on eight hits before
Carson Thomas came in relief. Thomas threw 1.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits to pick up the win.
The Tigers scattered four home runs in the contest, all coming from
Duncan Key,
Nick Blankenship, Dawerlyn Amancio, and
Kyle Busker. Key also went 4-for-5 at the plate, while
Cooper Hunt,
Christian Whitaker,
Tanner Collins, and
Britton Sperry had one hit each.
The East Central University baseball team will finish the series with Harding in a doubleheader tomorrow, April 23, starting at 1:00 p.m.