MARSHALL, Texas – The East Texas Baptist University baseball team swept the University of the OZarks 13-10 and 16-4 en route to  scoring 42 runs in the three game series, and limiting Ozarks to just 16 runs. ETBU improves to 18-10 overall, and Ozarks falls to 9-16 overall. ETBU won game one in walkoff fashion from a homerun by Zach Compton, and cruised to a game two win with 16 RBI.

GAME 1

Ozarks got on the board in the top of the second inning on an RBI double and RBI single to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. ETBU answered with a RBI double from Brice Winter to cut the lead to 2-1. Ozarks responded with an RBI single in the third inning to push the lead back to 3-1. Jaxon Rader came around from second off an Ozarks error to cut the Ozarks lead to 3-2. A two-run homerun by Patrick Mixon gave the Eagles a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the fourth.

Dylan Sumpter and Jaxon Rader used back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at 5-5. ETBU would take the lead on a sacrifice fly from Winter to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead. Compton stretched the lead to 7-5 on a single, that brought home Conner Combs on an Ozarks error. Ozarks would battle back in the top of the seventh inning, where they scored five runs to take the lead 10-7 over ETBU. ETBU would not go lightly, as they scored five runs with two outs. Rader got the scoring started on a sacrifice fly to score Kam Sumrall, cutting the Eagle lead to 10-8. Mason Aldredge used a pinch hit two run single to tie the game at 10-10. After a Combs walk, Compton ended the game with a three-run walkoff homerun over the left field fence.

Rader and Combs led the ETBU offense with three hits each. Compton and Winter each had two hits as well in the game. Rader and Compton had three RBI to pace the offense, followed by Aldredge and Winter with two RBI each. ETBU pounded out 14 hits and 11 RBI as a team.

Kam Sumrall picked up his first win of the season to move to 1-1 overall. Sumrall pitched 0.2 innings in relief, allowing two runs on one hit and struck out one batter. Garrett Penny pitched 2.0 innings of shutout relief, allowing only one hit and striking out two batters.

Ozarks had 11 hits as a team in game one of the double header, led by Mixon with three hits and five RBI. Justin Crider, Chase Edwards, Zach Jones, and Bryce Elder each had two hits. Jacob Barker picked up his first loss of the season, allowing five runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh inning.

GAME 2

Ozarks started out game two with a bang, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Andrew Beck doubled home a run, and Jones singled home a run to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. ETBU answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Compton and Warbington used RBI doubles to grab the lead from Ozarks 3-2. Gartner blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning to push the Tiger lead to 7-2. Compton would strike for his second homerun of the day in the following inning to extend the ETBU lead to 9-2.

Josh Woolly doubled home two runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut into the ETBU lead 9-4. Casey Combs countered with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth inning, followed by a bases loaded walk of Conner Combs to bring in another run to stretch the lead to 11-4. Gartner would then empty the bases with his second grand slam of the contest to give ETBU a 15-4 lead. Zach Ervin capped off the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth inning, closing the final game of the series early in seven innings.

Zach Gartner led the ETBU offense with two hits and eight RBI for the game two win. Two grand slams in a game is now a new American Southwest Conference record for grand slams in a single game. Compton also had two hits for ETBU, and finished with three RBI. All 16 runs scored by ETBU were recorded as an RBI, and ETBU had 10 hits as a team in game two.

Penny was awarded his third win of the season, pitching 3.0 innings in relief, and allowing only three hits. Derrick Findley pitched 3.0 innings to close out the game, allowing five hits and one earned run.

Jake Smith had three hits to lead the Eagle offense in game two. Woolly, Dakota Ebarb, and Edwards each had two hits in the contest, with Ozarks racking up 14 total hits. Jack Waggoner picked up his fourth loss of the season, dropping to 2-4 overall. Waggoner allowed four runs on four hits in 1.1 innings to start the game.

ETBU will return to ASC action next weekend against McMurry University. ETBU will host McMurry for a single game on Friday at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, ETBU will host an Alumni Day and James Morgan Memorial Day for the double header against McMurry. The games will take place starting at 1:00 p.m. with the second game starting 30 minutes after the conclusion.