Drovers Come Up Short on the Road in Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. – Tuesday afternoon, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (11-8, 1-2 SAC) suffered an 11-7 loss on the road in Kansas at Friends University (14-7, 5-4 KCAC). 

After the game opened with two scoreless innings, USAO captured an early lead with Christopher Martinez's RBI-double in the top of the third inning.

The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Falcons struck for four runs. Friends University extended their lead to 7-1 with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The Drovers cut the deficit to 7-4 in the top of the sixth, courtesy of Ben Bach's three-run homer to center field.  However, the Falcons immediately answered with two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 9-4. 

USAO began to rally in the eighth inning, striking for three runs to cut the deficit to 9-7, highlighted by Peyton McDowall's fourth homerun of the season. Once again, the Falcons answered with a pair of runs and took an 11-7 lead in the bottom of the eighth and held onto the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Kyler Denton got the start on the mound for the Drovers and pitched 4.0 innings and surrendered four runs on five hits, while striking out five batters. Naton Herchock went 0.2 innings prior to being relieved by Tristan Perry for 1.2 innings. Hagen Earls and Rob Schmidt each delivered scoreless 0.1 innings. Ryan Cullinane and Fernando Medina combined to record the final three outs of the game.

As a team, the Drovers compiled seven hits and reached on seven walks, while the Falcons reached the bases on nine hits and drew four walks. Both teams belted a pair of homeruns.

The USAO offense was led by a pair of multi-hit performances from Christopher Martinez and Gabriel Arroyo. Martinez finished 2-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored, and a run batted in, while Arroyo went 2-5 with a run scored. 

Ben Bach went 1-2 with a pair of walks, a homerun, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Peyton McDowall concluded 1-3 with a homerun, a walk, and two runs batted in. 

Ben Lawson drove in a run and Gage Ninness went 1-4 with a walk.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers will be back in action on Friday and Saturday, as they play a three-game non-conference series at University of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM. Friday's double-header is scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM CT, followed by a 12:00 PM start time for Saturday's series finale at Jake "The Jake" Williams Field. 

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