
(February 26, 2025) Arkadelphia, Arkansas - Coming off back-to-back home wins, the Bucks hit the road Wednesday morning for a single 9-inning contest with region foe South Arkansas College. The Stars are in the East Division of Region 2, while the Bucks have moved to the West Division with the six Oklahoma schools. Both teams entered the contest a game below .500: UA Rich Mountain (8-9) and South Arkansas (6-7).
It was very evident that both teams were going to score runs in the early going at Clyde Berry Field on the campus of Henderson State University. After a pair of innings, the game was tied at 4-4. The Bucks runs came on a 2-RBI single by Ethan Miller (Hallsville, TX) and a RBI single by Dylan Gibson (Springdale, AR). The Bucks other run came from the legs of Kevin Morris (Osceola, AR). He stole second and third before being driven home by Cody Hayes (Mildred, TX) in the bottom of the second inning.
Both teams went scoreless in the third and fourth innings before scoring more runs in the fifth. South Arkansas put up 2 runs in the top of the fifth, while the Bucks scratched accross a run after Diego Archila (Baton Rouge, LA) double. A sac bunt moved Archila to third before Miller picked up his third RBI on the day with a sacrifice fly in foul territory to make it 6-5 through five in favor of the Stars.
The Bucks flirted with base runners in the middle innings and finally pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jesse Sanchez (Kississimme, FL) reached on an error that allowed the Bucks to tie the contest at 6-6 after eight innings to setup a walk-off opportunity in the ninth.
The Bucks got back in the dugout and got a pair of runners on before a sac bunt moved the runners into scoring position. With 2 outs and an intentional walk, Dylan Gibson came to the plate and worked a 5-pitch walk to give the Bucks the 7-6 win over South Arkansas.
The men used four pitchers on the day. Caleb Millen (Bedford, TX) turned in 1.0 innings of work in his first outing of his college career into a win. Millen (1-0) gave up a lead off hit-by-pitch in the inning, then recorded three straight outs.
The Bucks will now have a few days off before travelling to Millington, TN on Saturday to take on Southeast Arkansas and Coahoma Community College at USA Stadium.
#DefendTheMountain