Jackson, Dale blank Pointers on one hit
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RUSSELLVILLE — The Panda was dealing.
Sophomore right-hander Zack Jackson, affectionately dubbed “Panda” by his Bryant Hornets teammates, combined with senior Harrison Dale on a phenomenally efficient one-hit shutout Thursday evening at Arkansas Tech University.
Trevor Ezell provided the only offense the duo wound up needing with a solo homer on the second pitch of the game. On RBI singles by Trey Breeding and Ezell, the Hornets produced a 3-0 win over the Van Buren Pointers to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Jackson needed just 47 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings. The lone hit was a lead-off single in the bottom of the first by Pointers’ centerfielder Jake Bogner. On the very next delivery, Dalton Kelley bounced to Bryant’s Brandan Warner at third, starting an around-the-horn doubleplay.
That started a stretch in which Jackson retired 15 in a row. That string was snapped when a 3-2 pitch to Aaron Jones with one out in the bottom of the sixth missed the plate. Moments later, the Pointers’ Zed Steinmetz earned a pass the same way, taking a 3-2 pitch.
With the top of the order coming up, Jackson induced a high fly to left but the wind-blown ball was misplayed. That loaded the bases with one out.
With the pitch count still at just 63, head coach Kirk Bock stuck with Jackson despite the tenuous 2-0 lead. Kelley came up again and, on a 3-1 pitch, he grounded up the middle. Second baseman Korey Thompson charged in behind the mound to make a nice play then flipped to Ezell, the shortstop, at the second-base bag. He relayed to first for an eye-popping twin-killing that ended the threat and preserved the shutout.
After just 68 pitches through six innings, Jackson gave way to Dale in the seventh. He needed just three pitches to get the final three outs.
“That’s good. That’s Nate Rutherford. And that was good to see,” stated Bock regarding the pitch-count while referencing his efficient former ace who now pitches at Tech and was on hand for the game. “If (Jackson) hadn’t walked those two guys and we hadn’t had the miscue, he probably would’ve completed the game without any problem.
“H.D. did a good job coming in,” he noted. “The guy’s — you’re going to hit him, you’re just not going to hit him hard.”
The Hornets wound up with seven hits in the game, four of those in the two-run first and six in the first three innings. After that Ezell supplied the only other hit but it was a clutch RBI single with one out in the top of the seventh.
“We just didn’t square them up,” Bock said. “Again, doing what we’re doing right now, we’ve come a long way from Florida last year to where we’re at right now. There’s going to be some growing pains offensively but we’ll get there. We’re going to stay the course and I think we’ll be more consistent in the long run throughout the whole game.”
Taylor Anders worked the first five innings for the Pointers. Ace Bradley Eversole relieved in the sixth.
“He’s good,” Bock said of Eversole. “When it’s all said and done, we’ll see him again in the State Tournament and he’s going to be 87 to 89 (miles per hour) with a good slide piece. He’s quality. He’s one of the better ones in the state.”
Eversole retired the first four batters he faced before battling with pinch-hitter Evan Lee. The count went to 3-2 and Lee fouled off a pair of pitches before earning the walk. With Thompson, his future ATU teammate, up to the plate, Eversole unleashed a wild pickoff throw to first. With the ball rolling down the right field line, Lee sprinted all the way to third.
With the infield in, Thompson worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch to bring Ezell to the plate. On the next delivery, Ezell pulled a single into right field to chase in Lee, making it 3-0.
Chase Tucker had a pitch glance off the top of his helmet and took his base to load the sacks with two down but Eversole got out of the inning on a nice play by Levi Froud on Trey Breeding’s one-hop shot off the third baseman’s chest.
Breeding had driven in Bryant’s second run. After Ezell’s towering blast to right-center, Tucker ripped one over the third base bag and into the corner for a double. Breeding delivered on a 2-2 pitch, cracking a single to left to make it 2-0.
Jason Hastings singled Breeding to third but Anders worked out of the jam to keep the lead at two.
In the second, the Van Buren right-hander surrendered a lead-off single to Warner. He took second on a wild pitch then stole third but got no further and Anders retired the next three batters.
In the bottom of the inning, Jackson took a hot shot off his left thigh as Eversole made a bid for a hit. But the Bryant hurler got to the ball and threw to first for the out.
Anders chopped to short for the third out of the inning, one of seven grounders Jackson induced during the 15-in-a-row stretch.
Bryant made a bid to add to the lead in the top of the third when Drew Tipton ripped a lead-off double to the gap in left-center. He stayed put as Tucker reached on an error but Breeding got a sacrifice bunt down to put runners at second and third with one down.
Anders responded, however, by setting down the next two without further damage.
Jackson cruised into the fourth off a pair of strikeouts to end the third. He did a nice job of covering first to retire Bogner on a lead-off bouncer to the right of first baseman Dalton Holt. Tucker then flagged down a liner to center by Kelley and Hastings finished off a stellar defensive inning for the Hornets by chasing down Spencer Rapin’s drive to deep right.
Neither team made much noise in the fifth and the game went to the pivotal sixth.
The Hornets are scheduled to return to action on Saturday evening at 5, at North Little Rock.
HORNETS 3, POINTERS 0
Bryant ab r h bi Pointers ab r h bi
Ezell, ss 3 1 2 2 Bogner, cf 3 0 1 0
Tipton, lf 4 0 1 0 Kelley, lf-2b 3 0 0 0
Tucker, cf 3 1 1 0 Rapin, rf 3 0 0 0
Breeding, dh 3 0 1 1 Hogan, c 3 0 0 0
Hastings, rf 3 0 1 0 Eversole, ss-p 3 0 0 0
Holt, 1b 3 0 0 0 Anders, p-lf 2 0 0 0
Warner, 3b 3 0 1 0 Froud, 3b 2 0 0 0
Hurt, c 2 0 0 0 Jones, 1b 1 0 0 0
Lee, ph 0 1 0 0 Stobaugh, pr 0 0 0 0
Thompson,2b 2 0 0 0 Steinmetz,2b-ss 1 0 0 0
Jackson, p 0 0 0 0
Dale, p 0 0 0 0
Totals 26 3 7 3 Totals 21 0 1 0
BRYANT 200 000 1 — 3
Van Buren 000 000 0 — 0
E—Eversole 2, Jones, Tipton. DP—Bryant 2. LOB—Bryant 7, Van Buren 2. 2B—Tucker. HR—Ezell. SB—Warner. S—Breeding.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
Bryant
Jackson (W) 6 0 0 1 2 3
Dale (S) 1 0 0 0 0 0
Van Buren
Anders (L) 5 2 2 6 1 6
Eversole 2 1 0 1 2 2
HBP—Tucker (by Eversole). WP—Anders.
Anonymous
Junior Varsity won 10-3