The Arkansas-Monticello baseball team took on Harding University in a late-night ball game for their second post season appearance of the 2022 season. The match-up was an elimination game in the 2022 Great American Conference Tournament. The two teams battled it out till the early Monday morninghours, as the game finally came to a close after midnight. After 11 innings of play, the Weevils fell to the Bisons, 4-2.
Coming off a 2-1 loss to Henderson State in their tournament opener, the Weevils came into Sunday night’s elimination game knowing they had nothing to lose. With the stakes being high, the Monticello ball team knew their season was on the line.
Harding University was the first team to get on the board this evening, taking advantage of a two-out single to right field to score a run from second in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Weevils struggled to piece together hits throughout the ball game, going scoreless until their final out in the ninth. That was until Reece Reading stepped up to the plate to pinch hit, sending a towering two-out double off the wall in left field to give the Weevils their first lead of the night.
The Bison took their turn at the plate in the bottom half of the inning, scoring the game tying run with a one-out ground ball. The inning would end with a ground ball to Torrin Vaselenak as the game would head into the tenth as it neared 1:00 a.m.
The Harding Bisons ended the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning with a walk-off hom run over the wall in left field.
Pitching Performances
Derek Potts, a junior pitcher for the Weevils, started on the mound, dishing out 8 innings of work. He struck out a Weevil career high 14 batters in his outing, allowing 4 hits and only 1 run.
Trent Bunting took the mound in the bottom of the seventh, tossing 4.2 innings for UAM. He had a strikeout and allowed 3 earned runs.
Offensive Showcase
Hudson Hopkins – 3-for-4 on the night
Reece Reading – 1-for-1 with a pinch hit, go ahead double.
The loss on the day closes out the 2022 season for the Weevils with a final record of 23-24.
Up Next
With the 2022 Weevils baseball season coming to a close, we’d like to give a massive thank you to the fans, friends, staff, and corporate sponsors for your continued support of UAM Athletics. We look forward to having you all back next year for the 2023 baseball season!
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