Drovers Complete Series Sweep Against WBU and Remain at the Top of the SAC Standings

CHICKASHA, Okla. – Saturday afternoon, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (27-15, 13-5 SAC) stayed red-hot and concluded the three-game sweep with a 9-2 victory against Wayland Baptist University (24-17, 9-9 SAC). On Friday, the Drovers earned a 3-2 win in the hard-fought pitcher's duel to start the evening, followed by a 9-6 triumph in game two.

With the sweep, the Drovers are now 39-14 all-time against the Pioneers, a series which dates to March 31, 2007. Furthermore, Science & Arts has won 21 of the last 22 meetings against Wayland Baptist since May 9, 2016.

Science & Arts has now won 14 of their last 16 games overall, and they have outscored opponents 176-66 during that span. Additionally, USAO has won each of their last five conference series' (MACU, TX WES, CCC, SCU, WBU).

The Drovers remain in a tie for first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with a 13-5 (.722) conference record, alongside Texas Wesleyan University. Despite the Drovers being tied with TX Wes at the top team in the standings, the Drovers hold the tiebreaker over the Rams due to USAO sweeping the head-to-head series earlier this season. 

Neither team was able to score in the first inning of Saturday's series finale, but the Drovers were able to capture the first lead of the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Science & Arts extended the lead to 9-0 with a five-run third inning, followed by two more runs in the fourth.

Wayland Baptist was able to cut their deficit to 9-2 with one run in the top of the fifth and one more in the sixth. 

Claudio Rodriguez shut the Pioneers down in the ninth to close out the sweep.

Josh Harrel improved to 7-3 with another tremendous performance on the mound. Harrel surrendered a pair of earned runs on three hits, and he struck out a pair of batters.

Rodriguez relieved Harrel in the eighth and delivered 2.0 scoreless innings, with a pair of strikeouts. Additionally, Rodriguez has held opponents scoreless in each of his last seven appearances, striking out 14 batters in 11.1 innings during that span.

As a team, the Drovers strung together seven hits to score their nine runs, and they did not commit any errors defensively. The Pioneers only managed to produce four hits and their committed five errors on defense. 

Christopher Martinez and Gage Gaunt each contributed two-hit performances to lead to Drovers at the dish. Martinez went 2-3 with a pair of runs scored, while Gaunt went 2-4 with a double, two runs scored, and three runs batted in. 

Gabriel Arroyo blasted his fourth homerun of the year as he concluded 1-4 with a walk and a pair of runs scored. 

Antonio Hrynkiw went 1-4 with a pair of runs batted in, and Nick Fleckenstein finished 1-5 with a run scored. Peyton McDowall drove in a pair of runs and he scored twice. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers will hit the road for a HUGE three-game series at Oklahoma City University on April 20 and 22. USAO and OCU will open the series with one game on Thursday, April 20 with one game at 6:00 PM, followed by a double-header on Saturday, beginning at 12:00 PM.

Stay up to date on all Science & Arts Athletics news by following us on our media platforms!

Athletics Website: www.usaoathletics.com

Live-stream: www.sacsportsnetwork.com/usao

YouTube: Drover Athletics

Twitter: @DroverAthletics

Facebook: @DroverAthletics

Instagram: @drover_athletics

GIPHY: www.giphy.com/USAODrovers