#MustangsWin! CBC Sweeps Series From Williams Baptist

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            North Little Rock, Ark. – Looking to sweep the series after a win in game one yesterday, Central Baptist College baseball hosted the Williams Baptist University Eagles today at Burns Park in the final two games of the three game series. CBC (24-22, 9-9 American Midwest Conference) made their case for locking up the five seed in the AMC Tournament, finishing the sweep of WBU (20-25, 5-13 AMC) by scores of 7-2 and 11-8.

            11 seniors were honored before the second game, including Garon Johnson, Jay French, Wille Baez and Devon Koonce. Those four played a key role in finishing the sweep for the Mustangs and evening their record in AMC play this season.

GAME TWO – CBC 7, WBU 2 (SEVEN INNINGS)

            CBC gave Johnson some run support in the first inning, plating two runs on a double by Logan Easterling and a single by Graham Dykes. The Mustangs would increase the lead to 5-0 in the third thanks to a home run from French, his seventh, a fielder's choice off the bat of Dykes and a run scoring single by Gabe Walker. Ruben Hernandez made it 6-0 in the fifth with his seventh home run of the season before WBU got to Johnson for a homer in the sixth to make it 6-2. French would score the final run on an error in the sixth making the score its final margin. Johnson threw a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits with four Ks.

GAME THREE – CBC 11, WBU 8

            CBC would score a run in the first inning for the third straight game when Hernandez hit an RBI single to make it 1-0. WBU would tie it against starter Gram Middleton in the second before CBC retook the lead, 4-1, in the bottom half on a bases loaded walk to Baez, a groundout by Dykes and a wild pitch. Back-to-back home runs from Austin Teal and Kyle Bass made it 6-1 in the fourth and Steven Stewart would single in French later in the inning to make it 7-1. The score would stay that way until the sixth, when WBU took an 8-7 lead before Koonce stopped the bleeding and kept the Eagles at a manageable level. CBC retook the lead in eighth. Gabe Walker led off the inning with a triple and scored on Teal's RBI single, his fourth hit of the game, to tie the score at 8-8 before a wild pitch gave CBC the lead back at 9-8. A sac fly by Stewart made it 10-8 and French's delayed steal of home, his 50^th stolen base of the season, made it 11-8. Rhett Blackburn would come in to relieve Koonce in the ninth and would walk one and allow a pair of hits, but picked up his first save. Koonce was the winner, pitching 2.1 innings and allowing just one hit and one walk. Middleton went the first five and allowed two runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and six Ks.

UP NEXT

            CBC will be on the road for the final five games of the season, with that stretch beginning at Crowley's Ridge on Tuesday. First pitch for the doubleheader against the Pioneers is scheduled for noon.