Five baseballs left the park Saturday as the University of Arkansas at Monticello suffered its first defeat of the postseason.
The UAM baseball team lost 11-5 to Pittsburg State in a winner’s bracket game of the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament at Bowyer Field in Mankato, Minn.
The two teams combined for five home runs, including four in the fifth inning.
No. 3-seed Pitt State (41-10) hit a pair of 2-run home runs, one each by shortstop Rickey Sanchez and first baseman Dagen Brewer, to take a 7-1 lead over the Boll Weevils.
No. 7-seed UAM (33-22) cut it to 7-4 in the bottom half on a 2-run home run from left fielder Kirk Woolf and a solo shot by third baseman Justin Santoyo. In the seventh inning, Santoyo hit his second homer of the day to cut the deficit to 8-5.
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Although the Boll Weevils outhomered the Gorillas, Pitt State outhit UAM 16-9. UAM only managed 1 run outside of its three homers.
Pitt State left fielder Jake Skaggs gave the Gorillas a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a bases-clearing single. Skaggs finished 4 for 4 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs. The Gorillas added a run each in the sixth and eighth innings before tallying 2 more in the ninth.
Santoyo hit 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs, while UAM designated hitter Camden Tanner hit 2 for 5 with a run. The rest of the UAM lineup hit a combined 4 for 25.
UAM starting pitcher Maxim Mrakovcic (8-3) allowed 7 runs on eight hits in five innings, with two relievers allowing 4 runs. Pitt State starter Kolby Dougan (8-0) allowed 4 runs on four hits in five innings.
Pitt State moves on to the regional finals, while UAM drops to the loser’s bracket. The Boll Weevils will face regional host No. 2-seed Minnesota State at noon Sunday in an elimination game. The winner will advance to the finals against Pitt State at 4 p.m., needing to beat the Gorillas twice to advance to the super regionals.
UAM beat MSU 5-3 on Thursday in the opening round. MSU then eliminated No. 6-seed Henderson State with a 10-5 win on Saturday. The Reddies had lost 18-5 to Pitt State on Thursday.