Conway, Ark. - Hendrix defeated the University of St. Thomas 3-1 on Friday evening at Warrior Baseball Field to kick off their weekend series with a win.
The Warriors entered this weekend's series on the heels of a five-game skid and got a massive lift from the pitching staff, which only allowed one run on one hit on the evening to shut down the Celts' offense.
The man of the hour was
Jack Hodgins, who etched his name into history with his 245th career-strikeout to set a new program record for career-strikeouts. Hodgins came on in relief in the 6th inning and fanned the first and third batters he faced, putting the Celts down in order in his lone inning of work on his way to the decision.
Aiden Leggett got the start on the mound and tossed 4.2 no-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Nathan Silva relieved Leggett to close out the 5th inning and came up big with a strikeout as the Celts left the bases loaded.
Hendrix got the scoring started in the 4th after a
Drake Job RBI-groundout to score
Adam Bland. They would add another in the 7th as
Shaun Pope was driven in on a
Joseph Watts single to left field.
The Warrior pitching staff carried a combined no-hitter into the 8th but had it broken up with one out. With runners on the corners and two outs,
JD Nichols got out of the inning with a massive strikeout to limit the damage and preserve Hendrix's lead after the Celts scratched one across on a sacrifice fly.
Hendrix would tack on another run in the bottom of the 8th as
Hogan Ralston scored on a sacrifice fly from Pope.
Klayton Wingfield came on in the 9th and earned the save, recording three straight outs to cement the win after allowing a lead-off walk to begin the inning.
The win improves Hendrix to 4-5 on the year, and they will look to earn the series win tomorrow afternoon. First pitch for Game Two is set for 2:00 PM at Warrior Baseball Field.
