Eagles survive wild finishes to complete sweep of Xavier in New Orleans
A&M-Texarkana survived a couple of wild games, including a high-scoring finale to take a series sweep of Xavier and up its win streak to four.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
|
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3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 5 |
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 4 |
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — A&M-Texarkana survived a couple of wild games, including a high-scoring finale to take a series sweep of Xavier and up its win streak to four. The Eagles (21-18 overall, 15-9 RRAC) jumped into fourth place in the conference standings with wins of 6-0, 6-5, and 11-10 over the Gold Rush (15-19, 7-17).
GAME 1
Oscar Sanchez (3-5) tossed six shutout innings with five strikeouts, leading the Eagles to a 6-0 win in Friday's opener. Sanchez allowed just five hits and two walks. Blake Taylor finished off the seventh in relief, striking out two.
Luke Hyzdu, doubled for one of his two hits and drove in a run, and Hunter Reid hit his team-best seventh home run of the season, helping the Eagles score six runs on seven hits against Xavier. Five different hitters drove in a run and six different hitters had at least one hit.
The Eagles tagged Xavier for two runs in the opening frame with Brandon Riley scoring on a wild pitch and Pudge Carlisle driving in Kyle McMullen with a run-scoring single. In the fourth, Dylan Simmons put a ball up the middle to score Eric Spencer for a 3-0 lead, then Hyzdu followed with a run-scoring double.
Reid homered to center field to make it 5-0 in the fifth, and freshman Gabe Baker added a single in the sixth to bring Hyzdu home for the final run. Xavier struck out seven times, drew just three walks, and left eight runners stranded on the base paths.
GAME 2
The Eagles capped the doubleheader with a 10-inning come-from-behind win, erasing a 5-2 deficit to win 6-5 in extras. Riley (4-for-4) roped a single into center field to score Spencer in the 10th. Reid took the mound with a runner on first and sat the Gold Rush down to earn his second save of the year.
Collin Fenili struggled in the start, lasting just 2.2 innings while giving up six hits and five runs. Anthony Galindo earned the win – his first – with one scoreless inning of relief. Hyzdu had two hits, walked three times, and scored three runs. Dakota Leopold doubled and drove in a pair to tie the game in the ninth.
The Eagles doubled five times and drew nine walks but left 11 runners on base while Xavier left 13 runners on.
GAME 3
Saturday's series finale started after a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, and offense took center stage while pitching and defense suffered. The teams combined for nine errors, 16 walks, five wild pitches, five passed balls and two hit batters.
Gabe Baker scored the winning run in the ninth on a passed ball after Xavier had tied the game in the seventh. The lead changed hands several times with the Eagles scoring four runs in the first and leading 7-2 in the fourth. Xavier scored three in the fourth and four in the fifth to take a 9-7 lead. The Eagles went ahead 10-9 in the seventh with a three-run inning.
McMullen drove in four runs on three hits, Riley had a pair of hits and scored three runs, and the Eagles drew 12 walks on the day.
Gage Mason started and tossed four innings, but Casey Nimmo (1-0) earned the win, throwing a scoreless ninth.
NEXT UP
The Eagles take a short break from conference play Tuesday for a single game at Central Baptist scheduled for 2 pm. Conference play resumes next weekend when the Eagles play at Louisiana Christian (27-10, 19-6) on Friday and Saturday.