The University of Arkansas at Monticello completed their fourth series win of the season and their second in a row winning two of three from Southern Nazarene at Weevils Field over the weekend.
In a common trend thus far this season, incoming weather would push the games from a Friday start to a Saturday double-header and the final game of the series to Sunday.
Connor Irvine would get the start in game one for the Weevils but would only be able to throw 3.2 innings before turning the game over to Lane Ladner.
In his time on the mound, Irvine would allow 11 runs on 10 hits, striking out six and walking two.
The Crimson Storm would score five runs in the top of the second, four in the top of the third to take a 9-0 lead.
The Weevils would get two runs back in the bottom of the third after Chaz Poppy reached first on an error that scored Jalyn Williams and a single by Cade Cancilla scored Cade Thompson to cut the lead to 9-2.
SNU would score two runs in the top of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 11-2.
The Weevils added four runs in the bottom of the fourth on scores by Noah Estrem, Williams, Poppy, and Thompson to cut the lead to 11-6.
The Weevils cut the lead to three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with solo home runs by Chase Cripps and Parker Dorrance to make the score 11-8, but the Crimson Storm would add four more runs to take a 15-8 victory.
In game two, Mason Philley would get the start. Philley was recognized before the day's contests for his record breaking achievement for career strikeouts and also earned the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Central Region Pitcher of the Week, his second of his career.
Philley would leave the mound Saturday after 5.2 innings pitched. Philley stuck out 11 batters in the contest allowing five runs on nine hits and walking four.
The Crimson Storm would get out to a 3-1 lead with a run in the first and two runs in the top of the fourth with the Weevils getting a run in the bottom of the third.
SNU added two runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up 5-1.
The Weevils would tie the contest in the bottom of the fifth highlighted by a three-run home run by Cancilla.
UAM would take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning on a three-run shot by Chase Cripps to give the Weevils an 8-5 lead. The score would be the final score of the contest.
Returning on Sunday for the final game of the series, UAM would start Derrek Potts on the mound in a contest that would take 14 innings to complete.
SNU would take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a solo home run, but the Weevils would answer the score with a two-run home run by Kirk Woolf.
SNU got five runs in the top of the second with UAM scoring a run in the bottom of the second and a run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 6-4.
After three scoreless innings, the Weevils would get a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull within a run, 6-5, but SNU would add a run in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 7-5.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Weevils would load the bases on two walks and Cancilla was hit by a pitch.
Dorrance would fly out for an RBI to cut the lead to 7-6.
The Weevils loaded the bases once more and would tie the contest at seven on a walk to Estrem to send the game into extra innings.
Neither team could produce a run form the 10th to the 12th inning, but the Crimson Storm would get a run in the top of the 13th inning to take an 8-7 lead, but the Weevils would come back in the bottom of the inning to tie the contest after Chaz Poppy reached first on a fielder’s choice that scored Cade Thompson.
Holding the Crimson Storm scoreless in the top of the 14th, the Weevils would get a runner after Clay Lockett was hit by a pitch.
Jalyn WIlliams advanced Lockett to second after a ground out and Kyle Frame flew out for the second out of the inning.
DeShaun Cordova would come in to pinch run for Lockett with Cade Thompson coming to the plate.
With Cordova on second, Thompson would single to right field to score Cordova for the walk-off win 9-8.
Chase Cripps would be awarded the GAC Player of the Week, going 6 for 12 with three home runs on the week. The honor marked the fifth Weevil player to be given the honor this season.
With the win, the Weevils improve to 17-12 on the season and improve to 10-8 in Great American Conference play.
The Weevils are currently sitting sixth position in the conference with Henderson State with both teams having a 10-8 conference record.
The Weevils will return to Weevils Field on Friday, March 31, for the first game of a three-game series against the conference leading Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys.
Friday’s contest is set for a first pitch of 2 pm, weather permitting, with a double-header scheduled for Saturday, April 1, with the first game set to begin at 12 pm.
The Weevils will host Henderson State on Tuesday, April 4, at 3 pm for a single conference contest.
