Weston Wilcox homered, drove in two runs and scattered four hits to lead Van Buren to a 3-0 win against Greenwood at Iverson Riggs Field at the Field of Dreams Complex on Tuesday.
Van Buren (13-5, 6-1) completed the two-game series sweep of the Bulldogs in a matchup of top teams in the 5A-West and remained in a first-place tie with Mountain Home.
Wilcox went the distance and struck out 13 in a 5-1 win over Greenwood on the first Tuesday of the conference season in March at Greenwood.
"The conference format, none of the coaches were excited about it, but it was one of the things that we're having to deal with is who is going to pitch against who and the matchups," Van Buren Coach Luke Weatherford said. "That's the way it worked out, Weston ended up being our Tuesday guy and we ended up playing them on Tuesday so they got him twice."
Due to the new conference schedule with Tuesday and Friday being the primary days for conference games, Wilcox pitched against the Bulldogs four weeks later, again on Tuesday. He coaxed the first two outs of the seventh inning before reaching his 110-pitch limit and giving way to Tristan Ray.
Wilcox finished with 10 strikeouts.
"We knew we were going to get him again," Greenwood Coach Brandon Brewer said. "He was a one-man show. It seems like we've gotten an ace everybody we've played. The two games we played against them, we came out on the losing end. He's a senior and I'm glad it's the last time I get to see him on the mound."
Wilcox lined a homer over the Bekaert Steel signed in left field on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
"We knew this was going to be a big game coming into it and it would determine later on in the season what the standings would be like," Wilcox said. "We came in prepared to put the ball in play early."
After Truett Cazzell reached on an error with one out in the third inning, Wilcox, on the first pitch, lined a double into the corner in left field to score Cazzell for a 2-0 lead.
Wilcox then scored from second an infield error for a 3-0 cushion.
"They made a few mistakes there and helped us get one more," Weatherford said. "That was a good one, that was a big one. Weston was big."
Greenwood (14-4, 6-2) put the leadoff batter on against Wilcox four times.
Jayden Campbell led the game off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but was stranded.
Cooper Webb doubled to lead off the second inning, but Wilcox got a fly ball and two strikeouts to end the threat.
Aaron Taylor walked to begin the fourth inning, but Wilcox again retired three straight.
Ty Holt singled sharply to open the sixth inning, and Brayden Brewer followed with a base hit, but against Wilcox retired three straight.
"We just could not buy the hit and could not buy the full-count at-bat when we needed it most," Brandon Brewer said. "He pitched really good in critical moments, pitched out of some jams, and did damage at the plate."
Mainly, Wilcox concentrated on Holt in Greenwood's lineup after the junior catcher homered against him in the first meeting.
"We definitely looked at Ty Holt and what he was missing the first game, and it was away," Wilcox said. "We tried to throw a lot of stuff away to him and it worked the first at-bat, got him looking. We tried to go back to it and ended up walking him the next time. Then I hung one to him over the middle and he singled. That was the main thing to stay on the outer edge of the zone and get outs."
Ray pitched around a two-out error and a single by Brayden Renick in the seventh to nail down the win.
Greenwood hosts Harrison on Friday.
Van Buren travels to Cameron, Okla., on Thursday and hosts Siloam Springs and a trio of former Van Buren Pointers on Friday. Andy Loyd, who pitched and hit the Pointers to the quarterfinals of the Class 7A State Tournament in 2008, was named the head baseball coach at Siloam Springs last June and hired his dad, David, a former Van Buren baseball coach, and Trevor Johnson, a former pitcher for the Pointers, as assistant coaches.
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