C of O vs Randall University - Friday, February 10 – Game 1

The College of the Ozarks Baseball Bobcats returned to Coach Bob Smith Field Friday for their home opener against the Randall University Saints.

Rhett Hill got the start on the mound for the Bobcats, and he made quick work of the Saints in the opening frame with a ground out and a pair of strikeouts. The Bobcats went right to work with the bats in the bottom half of the inning. Chuck Hill reached on an error and scored on a one out single by Ryan Daggs. A Rhett Hill single moved the runner over and a walk to Trey Riley leaded the bases. A deep Spencer Greene sacrifice fly drove in a pair of runs and the game moved to the second inning with the Bobcats holding the early 3-0 lead. Both teams went down in order in the second inning and Hill disposed of the saints in order again in the third. Ryan Daggs started the offense in the bottom of the third with an opposite field bomb over the right field fence and Rhett Hill and Spencer Greene reached on a pair of errors. Andrew Hert kept the line moving with a double off the right field fence, and the Bobcat lead jumped to 6-0. The Saints broke up the no-hitter in the top of the fourth with a double, but Hill retired the next three batters to hold the saints scoreless. A Caleb Johnson hit by pitch was followed by A Ryan Daggs double and the Bobcats added a run in the fourth. A trio of singles for the Saints resulted in a run on the board in the top of the fifth, but the Bobcats responded with a Trey Riley single, a Titus Atkins RBI double and a Blake Hultgren single. The game moved to the sixth inning with the Bobcats leading 8-1. Hill pitched around a one out single in the top half of the inning and Caleb Johnson led off the bottom half with a walk. A walk to Ryan Daggs put runners at first and second and a passed ball advanced them to second and third. Aaron Fisher drew a two out walk to load the bases. A pair of Saints, miscues cleared the bases as Johnson, Daggs, and Fisher all scored. Brody Baumann came on to pitch the seventh with the Bobcats leading 11-1. Baumann pitched around a one out walk, and the Bobcats took game one, 11-1.

Ryan Daggs led the way with three hits (2B, HR) while Rhett Hill, Trey Riley, Andrew Hert (2B), Titus Atkins (2B), and Blake Hultgren all recorded one hit each in the win.

C of O vs Randall University - Friday, February 10 – Game 2
Tyler Buchanan received the pitching assignment for game two and struck out the side in the first inning, pitching around a two out walk. A lead off single by Chuck Hill started the offense for the Bobcats. Caleb Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice and Hill was forced out at second base. A Ryan Daggs walk put runners at first and second before Rhett Hill ripped a single to left for an RBI. An error sent Daggs across the plate behind Johnson and the Cats led 2-0. Rhett Hill moved to third on the throw and a groundball off the bat of Trey Riley sent him across the plate. The next batter was retired to send the game to the second with the Bobcats holding the early 3-0 lead. Buchanan pitched around a leadoff hit by pitch and a single in the second to keep the Saints off the board and the Bobcats came back to the plate. Titus Atkins ripped a leadoff double to right and Lance Strahan followed with a single. Blake Hultgren singled to drive in Atkins and Chuck Hill reached on an error to load the bases. Caleb Johnson delivered with a triple to right field to clear the bases and the Bobcats were in control early. A fielder’s choice for Rhett Hill set up a double off the bat of Trey Riley. An error by the Saints allowed another run before a strikeout and a single by Lance Strahan put runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice ended the inning, and the Bobcats held an 11-0 lead. Buchanan set the Saints down in order in the third and a one out walk to Keegan Stone was all the offense for the Bobcats in the bottom half of the inning. Buchanan pitched around a one out single in the fourth and the Saints were still searching for their first run. Aaron Fisher ripped a one out double to left but was caught stealing. That was the extent of the Bobcat offense and the game moved to the fifth inning. Jake Davis came on to pitch in relief and the Saints were still looking to break though. Davis pitched around a two out walk and retired the side for a scoreless frame. The Bobcats threatened in the fifth with a walk and a hit by pitch, but the clutch hit was elusive, and the game moved to the sixth inning. Kole Jenks came on in relief and threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout and a hit by pitch. The Bobcats added a run in the sixth with walks to Landon Jines and Logan Daniels and a single by Lance Strahan. A walk was all the offense for the Saints in the seventh and the Bobcats took game two 12-2.

Lance Strahan recorded three hits in the win and Chuck Hill, Caleb Johnson (3B, 3 RBI) Rhett Hill, Trey Riley(2B), Aaron Fisher(2B), Titus Atkins(2B), and Blake Hultgren each added a hit.

C of O vs Randall University - Saturday, February 11 – Game 3
After two decisive wins Friday, the Bobcats were looking for a sweep over Randall University. With a beautiful sunshiny day, and temperatures headed to the 50’s, the Cats and their fans were excited for a great day of baseball at Coach Bob Smith Field.

Spencer Greene took the mound for the Bobcats and Randall came to take advantage of the warmer weather as well. A pair of singles and a walk allowed one run to cross the plate and Randall had the early 1-0 lead, with the Bobcats coming up. Chuck Hill started the Bobcat offense with a walk, and Ryan Daggs provided the answer with an RBI double. A deep fly ball to center moved Daggs to third and Trey Riley gave the Bobcats the lead with a double down the right field line. A groundout ended the inning and the game moved to the second with the Bobcats holding a 2-1 lead. Greene pitched out of a jam in the second inning after an error, a single and a walk loaded the bases. Greene picked off the runner at first then recorded a strike out and ground out to keep the Saints off the board. Aaron Fisher was hit by a pitch to start the Bobcat second. Blake Hultgren and Chuck Hill followed with walks to load the bases and the flood gates opened. Caleb Johnson doubled to drive in a pair of Bobcats and Rhett Hill traded places with Johnson with an RBI double of his own. Trey Riley then dropped a double into left field and Hill came around to score. A deep drive to right center by Spencer Greene scored Riley and he was standing on third with a triple. Andrew Hert kept the line moving with a drive off the wall in center and he picked up an RBI with a triple of his own. A pair of Saints errors kept the inning going but the final out was recorded. When the dust settled, the Bobcat lead was up to 11-1. Greene pitched around a one out single in the third to retire the side and the Bobcats came back to the plate. Rhett Hill ripped another double in the bottom half of the third, but that was all the offense to be had by the Bobcats. Devin McCullough came on to pitch the fifth inning and a pair of strikeouts and a groundout brought the Bobcats back to the dish. An Aaron Fisher triple with two outs kept the fourth inning alive and Blake Hultgren drove him in with a single. The next batter was retired, and the game moved to the fifth with the Bobcats leading 12-1. Kole Jenks came in to pitch the sixth and Randall found some life. A walk and a hit by pitch were followed by a double and the Saints scored a pair of runs. A strikeout ended the top half of the inning, and the Bobcats were looking to add to their lead. Trey Riley led off with a double and Logan Daniels reached on an error. Riley scored on the errant throw and Seth Stamps ripped a double, down the left field line, to drive in Daniels. The Bobcats were retired, and Brody Baumann came on to pitch the seventh. A pair of strikeouts and a ground out ended the contest, and the Bobcats took the 14-3 win.

Rhett Hill (2B, 2B) and Trey Riley (2B, 2B, 2B) led the offense with three hits each. Caleb Johnson (2B), Ryuan Daggs (2B), Spencer Greene (3B), Andrew Hert (3B), Aaron Fisher (3B) Seth Stamps (2B) and Blake Hultgren all had one hit each.

C of O vs Randall University - Saturday, February 11 – Game 4
One game away from the sweep, the Bobcats sent Colin Pyatt to the mound in the final game of the series. Pyatt took care of business in the top of the first, striking out the side and allowing one single. The Bobcats wasted no time putting runs on the board but had to do it with two outs in the first. Ryan Daggs started the offense with a double and Rhett Hill followed with an RBI triple to put the Cats on the board. Trey Riley reached on an error and Hill scored to make it 2-0. Spencer Greene then smacked an RBI double to add another run. Pyatt recorded three quick outs in the second and the Bobcats went down in order as well. Pyatt pitched around a leadoff single in the top of the third to retire the side and the Bobcats came up looking to extend their lead. A two out error sent Rhett Hill to first base and a single by Trey Riley moved Hill to third. A dropped flyball scored both Hill and Riley and the Cats lead grew to 5-0. Pyatt went back to work in the fourth and set the Saints down in order. The Bobcats cranked up the offense again in the bottom of the fourth when Blake Hultgren reached on an error and Chuck Hill singled. Hultgren scored on a wild pitch and Caleb Johnson, smashed a triple off the centerfield wall to score Hill. Ryan Daggs took his turn and doubled to drive in Johnson to make the score 8-0. Trey Riley then singled, but was thrown out attempting to steal second, and the game moved to the fifth. A hit by pitch and a walk would be all the offense for the Saints and the Bobcats came to the plate. Spencer Greene started the inning with a single to right and back-to-back walks to Titus Atkins and Lance Strahan loaded the bases. Blake Hultgren delivered a knockout blow with a double and three RBIs to clear the bases. Chuck Hill ripped a single and advanced to second on a throw home to get Hultgren out at the plate. Caleb Johnson was hit by a pitch and Daggs singled to keep the line moving. With the bases loaded, Brody Baumann walked to bring in a run and Seth Stamps followed with a single to drive in another. Titus Atkins ripped a one-out double for two more Bobcat runs and Lance Strahan followed suit with a two-RBI double of his own. Zane Kelley got in on the action with a single, Aaron Fisher walked, and Strahan scored on a wild pitch. Andrew Hert then singled to keep the inning going and Kelley scored. Fisher was thrown out advancing to third and the inning ended with the Bobcats running away with this one, 19-0. Joe Lee came on in relief of Pyatt and continued the trend of shutout baseball, through the sixth inning. The Bobcat offense was not finished yet and with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the bats came to life again. Seth Stamps drew a walk and Logan Daniels was hit by a pitch. Titus Atkins drove in Stamps with a single and Colby Teaster added another run to the board with an RBI single to score Daniels. Atkins scored on a wild pitch and Zane Kelley picked up an RBI with a double. The final out was recorded, and the Bobcats had bumped their lead to 23-0. Ryan Daggs came on to pitch the seventh and he struck out the side to finish the game and seal the 23-0 shutout win.

Ryan Daggs (2B, 2B) recorded three hits in the win and Chuck Hill, Trey Riley, Spencer Greene, Titus Atkins (2B), and Zane Kelley (2B) recorded a pair of hits each. Seth Stamps, Caleb Johnson (3B), Andrew Hert, Rhett Hill (3B), Lance Strahan (2B), Colby Teaster, and Blake Hultgren (2B) each added a hit.

The Bobcats completed the sweep outscoring Randall 60-6 and pounding out 29 extra base hits in the series.

The Bobcats will hit the road next weekend for a tri-match with Southwestern Christian and Bacone College.