FORT SMITH, Ark. - Entering the ninth inning with a one run lead, the Javelina bats got scorching hot, bringing six runs across the plate to complete the sweep of the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions with a 13-6 win on Sunday afternoon.
The Javelinas (17-13, 15-13 LSC) secure their first series sweep of the season. The Lions (12-12, 12-12 LSC) drop to .500 both in conference and overall.
The Javelinas struck first to start the game off as
Ramsey Amador chalked up the first RBI of the night in the first inning, scoring
Dalton Kramer from third who had opened the game with a double. Kramer helped bring in a run himself in the second inning, drawing an error from the Lion's shortstop on a dropped fly ball, bringing
MJ Rodriguez home. The score was the second of the inning as
Eric Garcia scored
Seth Brecheen just one batter earlier, making the score 3-0.
After a scorelss third inning, the Hogs opened up their lead even further with two more runs in the fourth. Kramer tallied a second RBI in the game with a double to right-center to bring Rodriguez home for the second time on the day.
Jacob Rosales followed up two batters later with a sacrifice fly to bring Kramer across the plate for the second time as well.
The Lions responded with two runs, scoring one apiece in the fourth and fifth, but the Javelinas struck right back two innings later, scoring two more in the seventh. After Brecheen opened the inning with a single then advanced to second on a wild pitch,
Garrett Thompson brought him home with a double down the right field line. Two batters later, another sacrifice fly from the Hogs - this time by Rodriguez - pushed the lead to 7-2.
At a five run disadvantage, the Lions showed signs of a rally, scoring one in the bottom of the seventh then two more in the eighth to make it just a one point game. The Javelinas, however, put together a rally of their own.
The Javelina bats heated up fast, opening the inning with four hits out of five batters and grabbing their first run of the frame on another Rodriguez sacrifice. Garcia followed up immediately with the third single of the inning to score run number two. Loading the bases with a Kramer single and a Rosales walk, Amador picked up four RBIs with one swing of the bat, crushing a grand slam to center field to bring the game to its final score of 13-6.
Carson Shepherd (2-0) is credited with the win and
Julius Rivas picks up his fourth save for the Hogs. Ty Jones (0-1) given the loss for UAFS.
UP NEXT
The Javelinas are back home at Nolan Ryan Field for a series with Oklahoma Christian. The series kicks off with game one scheduled for Friday, March 22 at 6 p.m.
