South Arkansas Community College’s baseball team seems to be hitting its stride.
On Thursday, the Stars extended their winning streak to seven straight by sweeping Arkansas Rich-Mountain by scores of 12-3 and 16-5 to open their four-game series in NJCAA Region 2 play.
The series resumes today with a doubleheader at Arkansas Rich-Mountain with game time set for 1 p.m.
Since being shutout in Game 3 of their series against National Park, the Stars (19-9, 8-2) have been blistering hot at the plate, scoring 77 runs during their winning streak.
In sweeping the Bucks (10-13, 5-5), the Stars pounded out 34 hits with 21 coming in Game 2.
The Stars fell behind 2-0 in Game 1, but responded by scoring six runs in the second and five in the third.
Clay Burrows, the reigning NJCAA Player of the Week in Region 2, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
Ryan Riggs also had two doubles as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate. He drove in one run.
Roc Hawthorne and Trace Shoup both homered and drove in three runs while finishing with two hits in the game.
The Stars finished with nine of their 13 hits going for extra bases.
Brett Foss (3-0) overcame a bumpy start after allowing two first-inning runs and scattered seven hits and three runs over six innings of work to win his third start in four outings. He walked one and struck out one.
In Game 2, the Stars scored a run in the fifth to break a 3-3 tie before scoring four runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to break the game open.
Shoup, a former standout at Parkers Chapel, hit a three-run homer in the eighth to end the game via mercy rule. He went 3-for-5 with a double and drove in five runs. Shoup had five hits and eight RBIs in the doubleheader, and he has driven in 15 runs over his last six games.
Jacob Ambriz and Beau Kuttenkuler also homered in the win.
Ambriz was one of three player to finish with three hits in the win, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Kuttenkuler, one of five players with two hits for the Stars, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Riggs had his second straight three-hit game to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
Burrows extended his hitting streak to eight by going 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Hawthorne went 2-for-5 to record his third straight game with two hits.
Former El Dorado standouts Leighton Turbeville and Brennan Jones each had two hits in the win.
Overall, 10 players had at least one hit in the game and seven had one RBI. The Stars had eight extra-base hits in the win.
The Stars got a terrific effort from their bullpen, as Jack Moody, Luke Eaton, Aaron Warriner and Jackson Regan combined to work 5 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits and two runs while issuing no walks. They had four strikeouts between them.
Eaton (2-0) had two strikeouts in two scoreless innings to pick up the win. He allowed one hit.