Hornets finish tourney with win over Harrison
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
PINE BLUFF — After being limited to seven hits in their previous two games at the Billy Bock Memorial Classic, the Bryant Hornets broke out with 10 in their final game on Saturday, March 19. And with lefty Corey Lambert turning in his best performance on the mound this season, the Hornets captured third place in the tourney with a 7-2 win over the Harrison Goblins.
Harrison came into the tournament unbeaten but left with a 7-2 record. Pine Bluff stopped the Goblins 6-0 in the semifinals.
Lambert worked five innings, scattering five hits and allowing just two unearned runs. He fanned three without a walk. Junior right-hander Danny Riemenschneider relieved in the sixth and finished the game for his first varsity save.
Todd Bryan had three hits, Travis Wood and Justin Wells two each to spark the offense. Lambert also had a key hit to get the Hornets’ going.
A double, a single and a two-out error allowed Harrison to get on the board in the top of the first inning. Goblins starter Spencer Schuh worked around singles by Bryan and Aaron Davidson in the bottom of the inning to keep it 1-0.
Lambert worked a 1-2-3 second then with two out in the bottom of the frame came through with a two-out RBI double to light up the Hornets’ offense. Riemenschneider had been hit with a pitch moments before and he scored all the way from first on Lambert’s shot into the right-field corner.
Bryan followed with a double down the left field line to drive in Lambert then Travis Wood lined a single to right to make it 3-1.
Lambert worked around a lead-off double by Matt Brown in the third with some good defensive support from third sacker Zach Young. He retired six in a row before giving up a bloop single to open the fifth to Tony Richardson. After striking out Matt Crowder, though, Lambert picked off Richardson then got Brown to ground out to short to end the inning.
In the sixth, an error open allowed Schuh to reach then Guy Brown singled and Riemenschneider was called on to relieve. Charlie Destefano got down a sacrifice bunt and, thanks to a wild throw to first, Schuh scored to make it 3-2.
Brown held at third when Eric Tennyson grounded into a force at second.
Harrison then tried to get the run home with a safety squeeze but John Viehemann popped up the bunt and Young flagged it down for the second out.
The Goblins then tried to steal the run as Tennyson broke for second and drew a throw from Davidson, the Bryant catcher. Wells, the Hornets shortstop, noticing Brown’s break for home, cut the ball early and fired home to nail him, retiring the side and preserving the lead.
The Hornets, in turn, added to the advantage with a four-run home sixth that was aided by four Harrison errors. Young reached on the first miscue to open the inning, Bryan Griffith slapped a single to right then an errant pickoff throw advanced the runners to second and third. Richie Wood delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
A two-out error kept the inning going as Devin Hurt reached base and Griffith scored. Bryan then beat out an infield hit and drew a wild throw. With runners at second and third, Travis Wood singled off the pitcher’s leg to drive in a run. Wells wrapped up the uprising with a double off the base of the left-field wall.
An error and a walk with one out in the top of the seventh put some pressure on Riemenschneider and the Hornets but the right-hander got Matt Brown to ground to Wells who started a game-ending doubleplay.
The Hornets improved to 10-5 on the season with the win. They were scheduled to travel to northwest Arkansas on Thursday to take on highly-rated Springdale. On Friday afternoon, they were scheduled to play Springfield, Mo., at Fayetteville then attend the University of Arkansas-Mississippi State Southeastern Conference game that night before wrapping up the weekend with a game against Fayetteville on Saturday.
