BASEBALL: Science & Arts goes 2-1 in opening series

Austin Litterell, The Express-Star, Chickasha, Okla.
·2 min read

Jan. 30—The University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma baseball team began the 2023 season.

The 19th-ranked Drovers went down to Texas, and they battled Our Lady of the Lake University in a series of three games to begin their season. The Drovers dropped the final game of the series, but that loss came after sweeping a Friday doubleheader to win the season-opening series against the Saints.

The Drovers came away with wins of 4-2 and 4-0 before dropping the final game, ending the series with a 2-1 record on the season.

Science & Arts got off to a quick start in its 4-2 victory over OLLU. The Drovers put up two runs in the top half of the first inning to go ahead 2-0.

Ryan Duncan led off the game with a single, and Ben Lawson walked to put two runners on base without an out in the inning. With one out in the inning, Christopher Martinez stepped up and delivered a two-run double to give the Drovers their 2-0 lead.

OLLU worked its way back, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the second inning to tie the game. But OLLU could never take the lead in the game, and the Drovers grabbed the lead for good in the fifth inning.

Peyton McDowall led off the fifth inning with a double, and a Gage Gaunt base hit gave the Drovers a 3-2 lead in the game. Will Hoch stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning for the Drovers and came through with a pinch-hit RBI single for the Drovers.

Offensively, Duncan and Gavin Machado had two hits apiece for the Drovers.

Josh Harrel went five innings as the starting pitcher, striking out three batters in the win. Alden Norquist entered the game in the seventh and earned the save as Science & Arts' third pitcher in the game.

In the Drovers' 4-0 win, Science & Arts scored all four of those runs in the top half of the eighth inning.

Science & Arts got a run on an RBI double from McDowall and two runs from a Gaunt triple. Gaunt then scored on a passed ball.

Megumi Fukuda and Boone Lasater combined to throw eight innings of shutout ball. Lasater earned the win on the mound.