#MustangsWin! CBC Runs Winning Streak To Six With Win Over Arkansas Baptist

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            North Little Rock, Ark. – Playing on a Wednesday afternoon for the first time in a long time, Central Baptist College baseball hosted the Buffaloes of Arkansas Baptist College this afternoon at Burns Park. CBC (13-9) pounded out 13 hits, including five home runs, to run rule ABC (0-3) 17-1.

            The Mustangs reached base 22 times in the contest, via 13 hits and nine walks. Slayton Holland started pitching for the first time in his career and got the win, allowing one run on two hits in four innings while striking out a career-high six batters.

GAME FLOW

            Neither team scored in the first inning, and CBC finally broke through in the second thanks to the third home run of the season from Graham Dykes. The Mustangs would blow the game open in the third, plating 10 runs to lead 11-0 after three. Logan Easterling and Wille Baez homered back-to-back in the inning, followed by an RBI single from Ty Decker, an RBI single from Dykes, a wild pitch that scored Dykes, a two-run single from Wille Baez, and the inning was capped by a three-run home run by Ruben Hernandez, his first of the season. A two-run home run from Jay French made it 13-1 in the fourth and an RBI groundout by Cayden Hunnicut later in the inning made it 14-1. Easton Reichard would single home two in the sixth to make it 16-1 and a sacrifice fly from Phillip Drilling later in the inning capped the scoring. Following Holland on the mound was Gram Middleton, who struck out all three batters he faced in the fifth. Jackson Lindsey pitched the sixth, allowing two hits while striking out three and Jose Monegro got the first two outs of the seventh via strikeouts, but also walked two before giving way to Devon Koonce, who struck out the final batter to end the game.

GAME NOTES

• French is closing in on more records, as he is now third all-time in hits with 180, tied for 10^th all-time in career home runs (16), tied for eighth in career RBIs (102), third in total bases (285), second in walks (72), seventh in career on base percentage (.438), and is four steals away from becoming only the second player ever with two 20-plus steal seasons
• Easterling's home run was his team-leading sixth
• Baez's home run was his fifth of the season and 21^st of his career
• Dyke's home run was his third
• Hernandez's home run was the seventh of his career
• French posted the 15^th game of his career with at least two stolen bases
• This was the 40^th game in which CBC has scored at least 15 runs and just the 23^rd time of at least 17 runs
• CBC hit five home runs in the game, marking just the eighth time in program history they have hit at least five homers in a game
• The 11 stolen bases were the second most all-time in a single game
• CBC's pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts, marking the 18^th time the staff has combined for 15 or more in a game
• The Mustangs now have 26 home runs as a team this season, marking the ninth straight year of at least 26
• CBC is on pace to break the single season record for slugging percentage, set last year (.532 currently, .531 last year)
• The Mustangs are also on pace to break the on base percentage record (.426 set in 2010), with a .453 on base percentage this season
• This was the first meeting ever between the Mustangs and the Buffaloes

UP NEXT

            CBC opens American Midwest Conference play on Friday afternoon at Burns Park against the Trojans of Hannibal-LaGrange. First pitch of Friday's nine-inning game is slated for noon.