The Royals baseball team had their first series at home this past weekend on Friday. Ecclesia excelled against Arkansas Baptist and put up some great numbers.
Arkansas Baptist was the first to score in the top of the first inning, and scored two. However, the Royals came back and flipped the game on its head in the bottom of the second. Ecclesia scored six runs on four hits to take a 7-2 lead. The biggest blow in the inning was a single by
Joseph Jaco that drove in two.
Five more Ecclesia College Royals runs crossed the plate in the third inning to extend the lead to 12-2.
Hendrys Echavarria doubled, scoring one run,
Eddison Marcano hit an inside the park home run, scoring three runs, and an error scored one run. Marcano's inside the park home run sparked some contagious energy in the Royals dugout, and led to even more success throughout the day.
Cole Edwards earned the win for Ecclesia. The righty allowed four hits and two runs over four innings, striking out seven and walking three.
Fred Marsh and
Cade Bell each threw scoreless innings of their own in relief for the Royals.
Ecclesia College amassed 12 hits in game one.
Keegan Bulza collected two hits for the Royals in three at bats. Ecclesia had patience at the plate and collected eight walks for the game, as well.
Francisco Sanchez and Echavarria led the team with two walks each.
Delton Lamborn and Marcano each stole multiple bases for the Royals with 5 bases being stolen as a team.
Eddison Marcano drove in five runs on three hits to lead Ecclesia College Royals past Arkansas Baptist 19-2 in game one.
At the beginning of game 2, Arkansas Baptist was quick to score first again. Similar to the first game, the Royals responded back with runs of their own. By the bottom of the first, Ecclesia had scored six runs on four hits to take a 6-1 lead.
A sacrifice fly by Reichard extended the Royals lead to 7-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Then, Ecclesia College added one more run in the third when
Tyler Davis lined out.
The Royals then broke the game wide open when they scored seven runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. Reichard doubled, scoring one run,
Delton Lamborn hit a sacrifice fly, scoring one run,
Keegan Bulza singled, scoring one run, an error scored one run, Davis tripled, scoring one run,
Jett Warner drew a walk, scoring one run, and Reichard singled, scoring one run.
Cole Doke earned the win for Ecclesia. The lefty allowed four hits and two runs over four innings, striking out five and walking three.
Ryan Pindell and
Derek Harbison each pitched in relief for the Royals and shutdown the Arkansas Baptist offense.
Ecclesia collected 12 hits in the game. Davis, Bulza, and
Francisco Sanchez each collected multiple hits for the Royals. Marcano led Ecclesia with two walks. Overall, the team had a strong eye at the plate, tallying eight walks for the game.
Julian Aguilera and Bulza each stole multiple bases for the Royals. As a team, Ecclesia ran wild on the base paths and piled up six stolen bases for the second game.
Easton Reichard drove in five runs on three hits to lead the Royals past Arkansas Baptist for the second time. Reichard doubled in the first scoring two, hit a sacrifice fly in the second scoring one, doubled in the fourth scoring one, and singled in the fourth scoring one.
The Royals made sure everyone did their part and there was not a single error committed throughout game two.
Zachary Lester made the most plays within the game with nine.
The Ecclesia baseball team will be hosting their Royal Invite tournament this weekend, and will be playing on Friday and Sunday. Their competition will take place at Randall Tyson Recreational Complex in Springdale, against Bethel University and Philander Smith University. We hope you come and join this weekend for some great games of baseball, and we look forward to more victories in the near future!
