Conway, Ark.- The Warriors hosted Southern Athletic Association opponent, the Centre College Colonels for a three-game series. Going into the weekend, the Warriors were 6-3 in SAA play and the Colonels were 7-2.
Game 1: Cade McWilliams toed the rubber for the Warriors to open up the series in a brief outing, surrendering four earned runs on six hits and two walks in two full innings pitched. Bobby Fowler came out of the bullpen and got consistent weak content, but some costly defensive miscues cost the Warriors an additional seven runs (four earned) through Fowler's three and two-thirds innings pitched. Jacob Wagner came out and cleaned up the last one-third of an inning. Ethan Thomas threw three perfect innings to finish the game out.
The Warriors recorded four runs on seven hits at the plate and failed to consistently plate runners when they were in scoring position. Adam Bland Was three-for-five at the plate and batted in two of the Warriors runs and scoring once himself. Jacob Carpentier was one-for-two with a savvy stolen base, catching the Centre defense sleeping. The Warriors couldn't respond to an overwhelming Centre performance at the plate and dropped game 1 by a score of 11-4.
Game 2: David Blackburn started for the Warriors and gave the Warriors a chance in game 2 which was hampered by a couple of costly errors behind him. Blackburn allowed five runs (three earned) through five and two-thirds innings pitched. John Henry Fowler was sharp out of the bullpen, allowing no runs on two hits while collecting three strikeouts.
At the plate, the Warriors only managed four hits against an impressive Centre starter in the form of Ben Prather. The first Warrior run came in the form of Zane Nolan, running for Jacob Carpentier, scoring on a Zach Marriott sacrifice fly. Owen Shaw was one-for-two with a hit-by-pitch and a run scored. Shaw was plated by a David Ripple groundout in the fifth. The Warriors struggled mightily to string together hits and seemed to stray from their standard disciplined approaches at the plate. In a much tighter game 2, the Warriors lost 5-2.
Game 3: The series finale was a high-scoring affair for both the Warriors and the Colonels. Miles Schluterman got the start but was chased out of the game early by some timely hitting by the Colonels with two outs in the first. Schluterman allowed three earned runs on four hits. Gunner Hopkins relieved Schluterman, going four innings and surrendering one run on three hits. Hopkins earned the win in relief, the first of his career. Trent Jordan came on in the sixth and threw two innings, allowing five runs on three hits and four walks. Jackson Corrigan and Nathan Silva tossed the last two scoreless frames.
The Warrior bats woke up in game three, scoring a whopping fifteen runs on twelve hits. Multiple Warrior hitters had multi-hit games. None stand out quite like Austin Rabago who was three-for-four with a single, a double, and a two-run homerun. Including the 'Bago Blast, he plated four Warrior runners. Drake Job also collected three hits and three RBIs. Owen Shaw was good for two hits and an RBI while being scored three times. The Warriors really needed to turn it around in game three, and they sure did. Their record stands at 19-9 following the 15-9 win over the Colonels. They are 7-5 in the Southern Athletic Association. The travel to Clarksville on Tuesday, April 4th to take on the Ozarks Eagles. They resume SAA play this coming weekend, hosting Rhodes College on Friday and Saturday. Friday's contest begins at 6:00pm CST.
