Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks baseball team opened fall play with a three-game sweep of North Arkansas College on Saturday, October 18 at Lonnie R. Qualls Field.

Ozarks won game one by a margin of 8-1. Sophomore transfer Jake Smith finished 2-for-3 with two RBI after recording an off-the-wall double in the seventh that scored two Eagles. Senior pitcher Nathan Cedor started for Ozarks in the first contest with fellow upperclassmen Alex Rodriguez and Oscar Dominguez contributing on the mound in relief.

In game two, Ozarks recorded a 4-2 victory. Freshman infielder Adam Winter went 2-for-4 in the contest, bringing home two runs in the fifth with a single to right field while freshman outfielder Zach Walker finished 2-for-2 with an RBI. The Eagles' fourth run was batted in by Aaron Perry, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases in the contest.

John Singler, Grady Finley, Joseph Scott, and Andrew Beck pitched for Ozarks in game two.

"Two and three games in a day can be long, but we found a way to keep battling and come away with victories," said Assistant Coach Nathan Bacon. "We had great energy and enthusiasm throughout the day, and as a team our play overall was great."

The third and final game of the weekend series was a 2-0 shutout in favor of the Eagles. Keaton Ramsey recorded a single in the second inning to score Scott. Scott then drew a walk in the latter innings with the bases loaded to score the Eagles' final run of the day.

Will Tucker, Hayden Keller, and Luke Vera all contributed on the mound to record the shutout.

"All of our guys threw the ball really well this weekend," said Bacon. "We only walked one guy through 23 innings which is outstanding work by our pitching staff, and our defense was making a lot of plays and not making many mistakes behind them. Those things combined gave our guys a lot confidence."

The Eagles open the spring season at Rhodes College on February 7, 2015.

By Emily Black, Student Assistant for Sports Information