MONTICELLO – For the first time ever, the University of Arkansas at Monticello baseball team recorded a win over North Alabama with a 4-3 victory in the second half of Sunday’s double-header. UNA defeated UAM 3-2 in the first game.
 
In the 4-3 win, the Boll Weevils (5-7-1) used a three-run fourth inning to recapture the lead from the Lions (13-4), who plated two runs in the top half of the inning.
 
The rally started with a double to center field by junior Tyler Henry, followed with a walk from junior Richard Atwood. Two batters later, junior Matthew Lewis hit an RBI-double to right field, scoring Henry. That was followed by an RBI-single from junior Ariel Mercedes to score Atwood. The final run was scored on junior Matt Whiting’s RBI-groundout, plating Lewis.
 
The other Weevil run came from junior Blaine Ivey’s solo-homerun in the bottom of the third inning.
 
The Lions threatened in the seventh with a single from Qualon Millender. Millender moved to third on an erroneous pickoff attempt by Atwood, who was filling the closer role for the Weevils.
 
Atwood recorded his first save of the season after striking out two batters in the inning, and getting UNA’s Jeffrey Ritter to groundout to the shortstop to end the game.
 
Junior Tyler Maness (1-0) recorded the win, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing no runs and only giving up one hit. UNA’s Branden Tepe (2-1) was saddled with the loss, after allowing UAM’s final three runs off three hits.
 
In the first game, both squads exchanged a run in the second inning. UAM scored its first run with an RBI-double to left center field by junior Drew Harper, scoring Henry, who singled to right and moved to third on an erroneous pickoff attempt.
 
The Lions answered with back-to-back RBI groundouts in the top half of the third inning to finalize their scoring and re-gain the lead for the last time.
 
UAM scored its final run in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI infield-single by Whiting, scoring Henry, who led off the inning with a single to center.
 
Junior Brandon Miller (0-3) was saddled with the loss after allowing all three UNA runs off five hits in his 2.2 innings of work. UNA’s Ryan Miller (3-0) picked up the win after throwing the first 5.2 inning and only allowing two runs off 10 hits. Miller struck out eight of the 27 UAM batters he faced.
 
The Weevils continue their home-stand with a four-game series against Rockhurst starting Saturday, February 28 with a pair of seven-inning games beginning at 1 p.m. The squads are scheduled to conclude the series with another double-header on Sunday, March 1 also starting at 1 p.m.