Mustangs Split Home Opening Doubleheader With Ottawa

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            North Little Rock, Ark. – Playing at the friendly confines of Burns Park for the first time this season, Central Baptist College baseball hosted the Braves of Ottawa University today. CBC (1-4) split the doubleheader, winning game one 1-0 before dropping game two 6-5 to OU (5-1).

GAME ONE – CBC 1, OTTAWA 0 (NINE INNINGS)

            A pitcher's duel broke out in the first game with Ottawa only collecting five hits and CBC only collecting two. In the ninth inning, Ryan Dauphinee, who got the first hit of the game for the Mustangs earlier, walked and was lifted for pinch runner Iziah Tafoya. Two batters later, Josh Lumsden ripped a ball into the left centerfield gap, nearly hitting a home run, scoring Tafoya all the way from first to give CBC win number one this season. Josh Albat pitched well in the no decision, throwing seven shutout innings of three-hit baseball, striking out three and walking only one. Jackson Pope threw two scoreless innings for the win, allowing only two hits while striking out one.

GAME TWO – OTTAWA 6, CBC 5

            Both offenses broke out in game two, with Ottawa taking an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Aaron Prince made the lead short lived as he blasted a two-run home run to left in the second for his first home run of the season to make it 2-1 Mustangs. An error pushed the lead to 3-1 in the third before Ottawa tied the game with single runs in the fourth and fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Dauphinee chased home two runs with a single to make it 5-3, but the pitching couldn't prevent the Braves from tying the game in the sixth and then winning it on a wild pitch in the seventh. Gram Middleton started and went four innings, striking out five while allowing two runs on three hits. Jackson Lindsey pitched an inning and two thirds, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits while Landon Hitchcock recorded the final out of the sixth on a caught stealing. Kevin Toala took the loss, allowing a run on no hits with a pair of walks and a strikeout.

UP NEXT

            The Mustangs and Braves wrap up their four game series at Burns Park tomorrow with another doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon.