Fayetteville Fights Off Feisty Pointers

STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Drew Tyler of Fayetteville heads to first Thurday after hitting an RBI triple during the fourth inning of the Bulldogs’ 1-0 win over Van Buren in Fayetteville.
STAFF PHOTO ANDY SHUPE Drew Tyler of Fayetteville heads to first Thurday after hitting an RBI triple during the fourth inning of the Bulldogs’ 1-0 win over Van Buren in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Van Buren came to Bulldog Field on Thursday fully prepared to give Fayetteville a run for its money.

Andy Pagnozzi refused to let the Pointers cash in.

How The Scored

Game 1

Fayetteville 1, Van Buren 0

Van Buren^000^000^0^—^0^3^0

Fayetteville^000^100^x^—^1^4^2

Anders and Hogan; Pagnozzi and Koch. W - Pagnozzi, 8-0. L - Anders. HR - none.

Game 2

Fayetteville 2, Van Buren 1

Van Buren^000^100^0^—^1^4^0

Fayetteville^100^100^x^—^2^4^0

Eversole, Bowman (6) and Hogan; Pate and Koch. W - Pate, 7-2. L - Eversole. HR - none

Pagnozzi, a junior right-hander for the Bulldogs, worked out of two key jams on the mound, including a bases-loaded, no-outs spot in the top of sixth. Fayetteville got just enough offense to hold off the determined Pointers in a 1-0 win Thursday in the 7A/6A-West Conference doubleheader opener.

Fayetteville (21-3, 10-0 7A/6A-West) added another close-call victory in the nightcap, 2-1, to complete the doubleheader sweep.

"(Van Buren) had runners on third in two innings, and he got out of it both times," Fayetteville coach Vance Arnold said. "He got a big strikeout and got a big groundout, and he never looked like he was ready to crumble. A couple of bad things happened behind him, but he kept his composure and never left the ball down the middle and that was the key to the game. Andy kept his composure on the mound."

Van Buren (10-10, 4-6) had two excellent scoring chances against Pagnozzi and the Bulldogs. But after allowing two singles in the fourth inning, Pagnozzi (8-0) worked out of that one-out jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

Then in the sixth, with the bases loaded and no outs, Van Buren squandered its best scoring chance when Pagnozzi induced a double-play groundout to first base. He then closed out the inning with a groundout to shortstop, which Drew Tyler fielded cleanly after previously making two errors in the inning.

"We just couldn't get the big hit when we needed to," Pointers coach David Loyd said. "We played well, but we've just got to do a better job up there at the plate.

"I was happy with the way we pitched and played defense. But when you have opportunities like that you have to take advantage of it. So we're not happy with the loss today."

Tyler came up with Fayetteville's one and only big hit of the game, delivering a RBI triple to the right field wall in the bottom of the fourth that scored Cody Davenport for the only run of the contest.

Pagnozzi then took care of the rest, finishing with just three hits allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

"You could see about eight of our first 11 outs were fly ball outs, and we just never adjusted," Arnold said. "But Andy did his stuff, and even though we didn't score anymore runs, he didn't let it bother him."

Game 2

Fayetteville 2, Van Buren 1

Walker Powell broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out RBI double, and Fayetteville completed the sweep of the Pointers despite just four hits overall in the nightcap.

Kyle Pate (7-2) pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs, allowing one run on four hits with five walks and 13 strikeouts. Pate allowed a triple to Van Buren pitcher Bradley Eversole in the top of the fourth. Eversole then scored on a squeeze bunt by Levi Froud to tie the game at 1-1 before Powell broke the tie in the bottom of the inning.

The Bulldogs host Deer Creek, Okla., at noon Saturday.

Sports on 04/25/2014

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