Conway, Ark. - Hendrix responded to a series loss last weekend against St. Thomas with a series sweep of Ozarks in their home conference opener.
Game 1 (W, 7-3)
Hendrix took the opening game of the series behind strong pitching -- which would become a theme for the entire weekend -- and an explosive start at the plate on Friday evening.
The Warriors plated four runs in the second inning with RBI singles from
Shaun Pope,
Mike Massa, and
Cole Goolsby. Hendrix continued to tear into Ozarks' pitching staff with back-to-back singles to lead off the third inning before
Sebastian Liquori scored
Reed Ketcham with an RBI single. Pope then doubled to score Liquori, and Pope was brought in by Rabago on the next at-bat to make it 7-1.
Ozarks plated two runs in the 9th with one out, but the Warriors were able to record the final two outs before the Eagles were able to gain any foothold in the final inning.
Rowan Glover got the start in Game 1 and spun 4.0 innings of one-run ball with a pair of strikeouts.
Aiden Leggett (W, 2-0) earned the win-in-relief with a dominant outing out of the bullpen. The senior struck out five hitters while allowing just one hit in 4.0 shutout innings of relief work while facing just one batter above the minimum.
Game 2 (W, 10-1)
Dylan Kalmus (W, 1-0) provided a quality start and Hendrix scored nine runs across the first three innings as the Warriors breezed to a 2-0 start and a series win.
Hendrix scored the game's opening run on a sacrifice fly from
Cole Goolsby to score
Shaun Pope. The game then broke open in the next innings as the Warriors scored three in the second and five in the third. With two outs in the home second,
Sebastian Liquori and
Chase Harris kept the inning going with back-to-back singles.
Shaun Pope then doubled to right center to bring both runs in, before
Austin Rabago then doubled down the right field line to score Pope.
In a very loud Hendrix third,
Nick Echaniz doubled to left to bring in Goolsby, and
Zane Nolan homered deep to right to score the next three runs.
Reed Ketcham then doubled before stealing third and was subsuquently scored by Liquori with an RBI single. Pope's sacrifice fly brought in
Chase Harris after the freshman reached third on back-to-back wild pitches for the final run of the inning.
Hendrix added one more run in the home seventh when Harris' RBI single scored
Zane Nolan.
Kalmus earned his first winning decision of the year after a dominant start, tossing 6.0 shutout innings of two-hit ball while striking out six and facing just three above the minimum.
Hugh Hill,
Chance Reed,
Liam Bowles, and
Caden Goad all recorded a strikeout in their relief appearances.
Game 3 (W, 11-3)
Hendrix secured the series sweep on Sunday with a loud afternoon, out-hitting the Eagles 14-5 on the day.
Austin Rabago and
Ryne Dodson both had three-hit days at the plate, and
Charlie Deaton added two hits. Of their eight combined hits, three of them were for extra-bases, with Harris' being a career-first triple.
Mike Massa reached twice on bases on balls and collected two stolen bases.
Kyle Taylor got the start in Game 3 and recorded three strikeouts.
Mason Holmes earned the win-in-relief, spinning three shutout innings of no-hit ball before turning it over to the electric
Evan Williams, who allowed just one run in 4.0 innings while striking out five to earn his first save of the season.
Hendrix (6-3, 4-2 SCAC) will now take a break from league play to host the University of the Redlands for a four-game set next weekend at Warrior Baseball Field.
