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SAGU takes 5-4 win behind Reeves pitching

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University men's baseball team earned a split of a doubleheader with Arlington Baptist College on Tuesday afternoon by winning the first game, 5-4. The Lions yielded six late runs in the nightcap to lose a 7-2 decision.

The games were played at Quik Trip Park, home of the minor league, professional team, the Grand Prairie "Air Hogs."

Game One: Reeves, Jones, Wherland star

SAGU won the first game behind a solid pitching performance by sophomore Michael Reeves (Ovilla, Tx / Ovilla Christian). The righthander went five innings, giving up four hits and a lone unearned run. He struck out three batters and issued just one walk to pick up his first win of the season after an 0-2 start.

Jared Jones (Copperas Cove, Tx / Copperas Cove HS) and Patrick Wherland (Petrolia, Tx / Petrolia HS) continued their hot hitting with multi-hit games. Both drove in a run on Tuesday as Southwestern built a 5-1 lead.

The Lions drew first blood. In the top of the second inning Ben Chavez (Roswell, NM / NMMI, Gateway HS) knocked in DuJuan Prater (Copperas Cove HS / Copperas Cove HS) with a solid rip to leftfield.

The Patriots tied the score in the fourth with an unearned run. An error on Reeves led to the solo tally on a two-out double.

Southwestern answered in the fifth. Dustin Jett (Patterson, La / Patterson HS), the leadoff batter, singled, swiped second, then darted home on a two-out base hit off the bat of Prater (pronounced PRAY-ter). The clutch RBI made a winner of Reeves.

The Lions then tacked on three more in the sixth. The bags were full of 'Cats when David Gomez (Del Rio, Tx / Bowie HS) walked to force in Cameron Ward (Mansfield, Tx / Grace Prep), who led off with an impressive double. Jett's deep fly ball allowed Jared Denton (Mission, Tx / Sharyland HS) to tag and score from third for a 4-1 advantage.

Jones, the rugged shortstop, then lined a single that sent Dominic Denney (Albuquerque, NM / LaCueva HS) chugging home for what turned out to be the winning run. Denton and Denney were on base with walks.

Arlington Baptist countered with three runs of their own, fueled by a walk, three hits and an infield error. With the Pats threatening to tie the game, Head Coach Greg Hayes summoned for closer, junior Tim Kolczak (San Antonio, Tx / Taft HS). It took only one pitch from the bearded wonder to retire the next batter with a pop-up to Chavez at second.

Kolczak's last name starts and ends with a k, the same symbol used in scorebooks to abbreviate a strike out. In the seventh inning he started and finished the frame by fanning batters to earn another save. In the team's five wins, Kolczak has collected three saves.

Jones led the hitting attack by going 3-for-4, while Wherland stroked a pair of doubles.

Game Two

The Lions took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth in the second game before the defense caved in during back-to-back three-run innings. Arlington Baptist won, 7-2, despite being outhit 10-5. It was three walks and four errors, along with two missed calls by the umpire, who admitted his blunders that cost the Lions.

Southwestern staked their claim to the lead on a pair of runs for a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Wherland stroked a single, and then advanced to third when Prater bopped a two-bagger. The Lions scored both runners on sacrifice flies by Ward and Denton. For all the team's hits, they couldn't manage a single hit with runners in scoring position. Even their two runs were scored without an RBI hit.

The Patriots were much obliged for SAGU's benevolence in the bottom of the fifth. They took advantage of three walks and two errors to score three times on only one hit. Two of the runs were unearned, just the number they led by entering the sixth.

Jones, the sophomore starting pitcher in this game, faced one batter in the sixth before retiring. During an inning when the umpire confessed to missing two plays, ABC tacked on three more runs. Again, only one run was scored without being aided by an error. They had two hits, one of which was a bunt, a walk, a hit batsman, and a critical Lions' error to break the game open, 7-2.

"Coach Speak"

Pitching Coach Clay Scarborough said that Jones deserved a better fate. "He pitched well enough to give us a good chance to win," he said. Instead, he was tagged with the loss.

Prater went three for three with another double, while Riley Hensel (Maypearl, Tx / Maypearl HS) had two hits, including a triple.

On Deck for Southwestern

The Lions (5-16, 0-12 in RRAC) return to the field on Friday at 6pm when they open a three-game homestand against Wiley College (9-6 overall, 7-5 in RRAC) at the Waxahachie Sports Complex.

Ward, a senior southpaw, will get the start in the opener on Friday. The ballclubs have a double-dip on tap for Saturday, March 12. Chris Stanley (Harker Heights, Tx / Ellison HS), a junior righty, is set to pitch the noon game, with lanky sophomore lefthander Nic Morgan (Fort Worth, Tx / Boswell HS) getting the start in Game Three.

Current Standings - Red River Athletic Conference