Drillers extend winning streak with sweep

After a tough start, the El Dorado Drillers are on a roll.

The Drillers extended their winning streak to six straight Friday night by sweeping a zone doubleheader from Lake Hamilton by scores of 5-4 and 9-0 on Schoolboy Rowe Field at the El Dorado/Union County Recreation Complex.

The sweep comes on the heels of the Drillers winning the Winnsboro (La.) Wood Bat Classic last weekend coupled with Tuesday’s 7-6 win over Arkansas Pulpwood that saw the Drillers rally from a 6-1 deficit.

In Friday’s sweep of the Wolves, the Drillers sweated out a late rally in the opener before erupting for eight runs in the second inning to cruise in the nightcap.

Solid pitching helped pave the way for the sweep.

John Robert Burson went six-plus innings in the opener before giving way to Hunter Lawrence, who picked up his second save.

Cayson Martin and Xorian Robinson collaborated on a four-hit shutout in the nightcap.

In the opener, the Drillers took a 3-0 lead, scoring one run in the second and two more in the third.

Burson helped himself in the second by leading off the frame with a double to left-center. He then took third on Holden Lowry’s fly out to center before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Peyton Yarbrough.

In the third, the Drillers did their damage with two outs.

Trey Murphy singled to left-center, stole second and AJ Alsobrook followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.

Alsobrook then stole both second and third before scoring on a Sawyer Cropper single to left-center.

Burson, who allowed six hits and four runs with two being earned, kept the Wolves at bay until allowing single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Drillers responded with a pair of runs in the sixth.

Murphy started the rally with a double down the left-field line and Alsobrook followed with his second RBI single of the game to give the Drillers a 4-2 lead.

As was the case in the third, Alsobrook stole both second and third base before crossing the plate on a single by Cropper to push the lead to 5-2.

The Wolves scored twice in the seventh, but Lawrence, who walked one and struck out two, closed the door.

Burson (1-0) walked six and struck out three.

Murphy, Cropper and Alsobrook each had two hits for the Drillers.

Cropper and Alsobrook each had two RBIs with the latter also stealing four bases and scoring two runs.

Yarbrough, Burson, Martin and Robinson all had one hit in the win.

In the second game, the Drillers did all of their scoring in the first two innings.

The Drillers manufactured a run in the opening inning with Cropper drawing a walk and stealing second before scoring on a base hit to right by Lawrence.

Then came the early knockout blow with the Drillers scoring eight runs before making an out.

Yarbrough was hit by a pitch and stole second base, and Robinson laced an RBI triple down the right-field line.

The Drillers loaded the bases on a walk to Lowry and Kolin Parker was hit by a pitch.

JT Ingram and Martin each picked up RBIs with back-to-back walks to extend the lead to 4-0.

Murphy then continued his big night by hitting the first pitch down the left-field line for a two-run double to make it 6-0.

A walk to Jax Todd reloaded the bases, and Alsobrook delivered his third single of the doubleheader to score a pair of runs to push the lead to 8-0.

Cropper then capped the scoring with an RBI single to left.

Staked to a big lead, Martin (2-0) limited the Wolves to three hits in four scoreless innings. He walked three and struck out eight.

Robinson had one strikeout in his one scoreless inning.

Murphy and Alsobrook each had their second straight two-hit games in the win, and they both had two RBIs.

Robinson also had two hits and an RBI in the contest, while Martin, Cropper and Lawrence each had one hit and one RBI.

The Drillers (6-3, 3-0) will be back in action on Monday when they host Ashley County for a doubleheader.

Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.

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