CONWAY,  Ark. – The Hendrix College baseball team dropped a pair of tightly contested games with Southern Athletic Association rival Birmingham-Southern College, falling to the ninth-ranked Panthers 2-1 and 8-6 on Saturday.
 
Ryan Ritz went 4-for-7 on the day with a pair of doubles, a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI. Matt Simmons added three hits, including a triple, a stolen base, two RBI and a run scored.
 
Game one was a pitcher's duel between one of the SAA's best pitchers and three different Warrior hurlers. Blake Stevens went eight innings, allowing one run on four hits, while David Bourbonnais
 
The Panthers took an early lead, scoring in the top of the second inning. A walk and a single put runners on the corners for Casey Lambert who blooped a single over the first baseman, scoring a run.
 
In the fourth, BSC added on with a run, capitalizing on a Hendrix error. Taylor McCracken brought in an RBI with a single to center, making it 2-0.
 
Hendrix got on the board in the sixth when Matt Simmons ripped a one-out triple down the right field line. Brady Newville then brought him home with an RBI groundout to the shortstop, cutting the lead to 2-1.
 
The Warriors couldn't scratch across any more runs against Blake Stevens as the BSC ace earned his eighth win of the season.
 
In game two, BSC scored in the top of the first. McCracken led off with a double and was brought home two batters later on a sacrifice fly to left, making it 1-0. Hendrix tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Brady Newville doubled down the right field line and came home two batters later on a Harley Faye RBI-single up the middle.
 
In the top of the third, BSC rallied for four runs to take a 5-1 lead, but the Warriors battled back with another run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Drew Judson doubled to left and was brought home on a Simmons single to the opposite field, making it 5-2.
 
The Panthers added an insurance run in the fifth, but the Orange and Black continued to chip away with two more scores in bottom of the inning. Ritz led off with a walk, followed by a Judson bunt single. The pair advanced on a throwing error to put runners on second and third with no outs. Weber hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field and Simmons ripped another RBI single to make it 6-4.
 
In the sixth, each team scored a pair of runs, making the score 8-6. The Hendrix rally began with back-to-back singles from Faye and Wyatt Hogan. Ritz and Weber each drove in one run on a pair of doubles. Hendrix couldn't complete the comeback though as they fell to the Panthers in game two.
 
Hendrix Notes
- Cannon Schrank and Harley Faye combined for five scoreless innings of relief in game one.
- Ryan Ritz finished 4-for-7 with a pair of doubles, a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI.
- Matt Simmons went 3-for-7 on the day with a triple, a stolen base, two RBI and a run scored.
- Thomas Weber increased his hitting streak to 10 games, the longest streak of the season for the Warriors.
- In game two, Hendrix registered 12 hits tying for the most hits in a loss this season. 

BSC Notes
- Blake Stevens tossed eight innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out 12 batters.
- David Bourbonnais tossed a combined 2.1 innings, allowing one hit and no runs to pick up a pair of saves.
- Taylor McCracken went 5-for-7 on the day with a double, a stolen base, an RBI and three runs scored.

Up Next
Hendrix will finish their regular season conference schedule with another contest against BSC on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Warriors will honor their nine graduating seniors during pre-game ceremonies.