Clutch relief pitching keys 6-5 win
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be 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).
LITTLE ROCK — The game between the Bryant Bowen-Hefley Black Sox and Little Rock Oxford Printing on Wednesday, May 26, had all the earmarks of a scoring fest. Both teams were hitting the ball with authority and the fielding wasn’t particularly crisp. It was such that, in just the bottom of the fourth, Bryant held a 6-4 lead.
And Oxford Printing (until this season, the team was sponsored by Thompson Electric) had the bases loaded with no one out in the bottom of the fourth. An infield hit, the fourth Bryant error of the game and a walk had put Sox starter Josh Caldwell under the gun with the heart of the Printers lineup due.
Manager Craig Harrison turned to right-hander Daniel Bennett who had not had his best outing in the Sox’ previous game, a discouraging 13-5 loss to Little Rock Continental Express just three days before.
But this time, Bennett came through. He fanned Travis Wilson then surrendered an RBI single to Ryan Benson that made it a one-run game. Nikom Warrior then grounded to second baseman Dustin Morris, who tagged Benson and threw to first for an inning-ending doubleplay.
Bennett went on to pitch two more shutout innings and J.J. Yant struck out the side (around a pair of walks) in the bottom of the seventh as the Black Sox held on for a key early District V victory, 6-5, over the Little Rock team.
The win improved the Sox to 3-2 going into Thursday’s game against Malvern.
Thanks to the work of Bennett and Yant, Bryant’s three-run fourth inning uprising proved to be decisive against Oxford Printing. Trailing 4-3, the Sox’ rally began with a one-out walk to Anthony Rose. Caldwell followed with a single. After Brandon Fitts sacrificed the runners to second and third, Travis Lawhon walked on four pitches to load the bases. Morris then worked a walk to force in the tying run.
The Sox took the lead when Billy Landers hit a grounder to second. Oxford, with designs on an inning-ending doubleplay, got the force at second but couldn’t catch Landers at first. A pitch later, Kris Kuykendall singled in Lawhon with what proved to be the decisive run.
Kuykendall went 3-for-4 for Bryant. Caldwell had two hits.
The Bryant errors undermined Caldwell’s moundwork early. A pair of errors kept Oxford’s second inning going and it eventually turned into a four-run frame. The Printers took the lead when Danny Lindsey opened the inning by reaching safely on an error. He stole second and scored on a single by Robert Kirshner that was misplayed in the outfield.
An out later, the Sox botched a bunt by Gerald Harris to put runners at the corners for Paul Butler who sat on a 2-0 offering a drilled a three-run homer.
Butler went 3-for-5 for Oxford. He reached base four times — the only time he didn’t came in the bottom of the seventh when, with the tying and winning runs on base, Yant fanned him on three pitches to end the game.
Bryant got on the board initially in the third. Fitts opened the frame with a double. Lawhon walked then Morris bunted back to the mound for a force at third. Landers walked to load the bases for Kuykendall who came through with an RBI single.
A balk by Oxford starter Zack Bradley allowed Morris to score. Landers, who took third on the balk, scored moments later on a sacrifice fly by Yant to make it 4-3.
Caldwell worked around a pair of singles in the bottom of the inning. He was aided by Yant, his catcher, who picked off one of the runners for the second out of the inning. Caldwell then fanned Bradley to strand a runner at third. That set up Bryant’s go-ahead rally in the fourth.
In protecting the 6-5 lead, Bennett overcame another Bryant error in the fifth and a single and a two-out miscue in the sixth.
In the seventh, Yant fanned the first man he faced then issued a pair of walks on disputed calls. But he regained his control in time to finish the game with a flourish, striking out Harris and Butler.
