Drovers Complete Three-Game Sweep

SHAWNEE – USAO did what it needed to do with a weekend sweep of St. Gregory’s. The Drovers took Friday’s home doubleheader with a 10-6 win in game one and a 6-2 win in game two before winning the nine-inning finale on the road 8-3 Saturday.

The sweep improves the University of Science and Arts to 22-21-1 overall and 9-9 in the league. With a sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma in the final series, the Drovers can slide into third place in the league standings.

Ricky Duke picked up the win in game one allowing just one run with one strikeout as the USAO bats came to life in the late innings to cement the win. SGU led 5-3 until the Drovers scored two runs in the fifth and five runs in the sixth.

Game two, as usual, was dominated by sophomore pitcher Nate Hammons. He gave up just one earned run on four hits while striking out nine batters for the second time this season. Hammons improved to 7-2 on the season.

Senior pitcher Matt Mallory improved to 5-3 on the season with his sixth complete game in game three Saturday. Mallory gave up just three earned runs on eight hits while setting a new single-game record for strikeouts for the second time this season.

The senior from Grand Junction, Colo., struck out 14 SGU batters Saturday, which broke the old record Mallory posted earlier this season with 13 strikeouts against Wayland Baptist.

USAO begins its final regular season series at 6 p.m. Friday at Enid. The final doubleheader of the season will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bill Smith Ballpark.

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