WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – GAME 1 – Blue Mountain Christian and Williams Baptist met up in a non-conference doubleheader here Tuesday for midweek action.
The Toppers fell in Game 1 by a score of 16-11, and the tilt would see six homers and eight pitchers combined.
The Toppers would get a run in the first on a sac-fly from
Hayden Arant that scored
Hayden Redding. Prior to that, Redding would tie the single season stolen base record at 34, set by Miciah Heard in 2018. The Toppers scored on the double steal with
Gavin Coles crossing the plate.
WBU would get eight runs across two innings with Topper starter
Cameron Gordon on the bump, highlighted by a two-run homer by Tyrell Burnett in the first. Topper errors would compile three unearned runs in the first two innings.
BMCU masher Arderrius Peeko Townsend blasted his 20
th homer of the season in the second, a solo shot to the opposite field.
In the third, the Toppers exploded for six runs to chase WBU starter Alex Orman, as
Josiah Rivera provided a three-run homer, Arant roped a two-run double and Coles had an RBI single.
In the fourth, Redding swiped his second base of the day, as he claimed the single season record for BMCU with 35 steals. He would later score on an error to give BMCU a 10-8 lead.
The Eagles would answer to tie it and then take a 12-10 lead in the fourth on a two-run double by Cody Jones against Topper reliever
Rey Castaneda.
Redding would try and pull the Toppers closer, as he belted a solo homer to left center in the sixth, but the Toppers couldn't muster more.
Williams Baptist would get four more runs to ice it, capped by solo homers by Lawson Aaron and Gavin Mink.
Castaneda (2-1) suffered the loss, going 2.1 innings, giving up four runs on five hits with three Ks.
Redding finished with three hits, four stolen bases and four runs scored, while Coles had three hits and two runs scored.
David Dickerson would also have three hits, while Townsend had two hits and two runs scored in the loss for BMCU.
GAME 2
In Game 2, Blue Mountain would rebound and take a 9-7 win to split the day with the Eagles.
Peeko Townsend would single in a run to give the Toppers a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Eagles answered with two of their own, as
Weston Fuller toed the rubber for BMCU.
The Toppers opened up offensively in the top of the third, as
Hayden Arant and
Josiah Rivera singled in runs and
Chris Hoing drilled an RBI double. After a pitching change for WBU,
Tyrese Roberson would rip a two-run single through the right side to give BMCU an 8-3 lead.
The Eagles fought back and got a pair of solo homers by Nicholas Jones in consecutive innings in the fourth and fifth, followed by a solo homer from Lawson Aaron, but that would be all they could get, giving the Toppers the split.
Roberson finished with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored, while
Hayden Redding had two hits.
Taylor Sipes (2-0) got credit for the win in relief with 3.2 innings of work, giving up an earned runs on three hits with two Ks.
When the doubleheader dust settled, Redding moved into first nationally in the NAIA with 37 stolen bases, while Townsend is tied for first nationally with 20 homers. Redding is 37-for-40 in stolen bases on the season while Townsend is alone at the top of the national RBI list with 65.
BMCU (23-12, 8-10 SSAC) returns to SSAC play Friday and Saturday at home, as they host Stillman for a three-game series at Topper Field.
Find us here:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
