OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (April 21, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian baseball team upset No. 3 Oklahoma City University on Thursday night with an 11-10 ninth inning win.
The Stars drove in a run two batters into the first inning to get the early lead up on the Eagles at 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning, however, with Dillon Andrews, Taylor Parcus, and Tyler Gipson all on base, Clint Bowker took the plate only to smash a grand slam over the center fence to score four runs for the Eagles and take the 4-1 lead.
A scoreless second followed before Oklahoma City tied things up in the third with three runs of their own. Determined, the Eagles responded with a single run in the bottom of the inning when pinch runner Chance Nichols scored on a ground out from Bowker to lead the Stars 5-4.
In the fourth, after holding the Stars again, the Eagles tallied another run to take the two-run advantage at 6-4. Following a safe bunt from Dillon Andrews, a wild throw from OCU allowed Heath Steele to make it home for the score.
Despite such, during the top of the following inning OCU sent home five runners to take a 9-6 lead. Nevertheless, the Eagles retorted in the bottom of the inning with three runs to tie things up at 9-9 going into the sixth. With Dustin Andrews at third, a wild pitch allowed Andrews home for the score before Steele followed with a double, two batters later, to drive home Gipson and Bowker for the tie.
The Stars regained a one-point advantage in the sixth to lead the Eagles going into the seventh where Gipson scored on a ground out from Davis to retie the game at 10-10.
Things held tight in the eighth as both squads held a firm defense and kept the other from scoring. In the ninth, the Eagles held the single-minded Stars from scoring once again and put up a final run in the bottom of the inning to seal the 11-10 win. Bowker scored the winning run on a single from Dillon Andrews.
Bowker led the Eagles at the plate going 2-for-4 with five RBI while Dustin Andrews, and Josh Balch each went 2-for-4 as well. After holding the Stars in the final inning, Parcus secured the win from the mound.
The win improves the Eagles to 23-14 overall while bringing them to 15-10 for conference play. On Friday at 7 p.m., the Eagles will continue their series with the No. 3 ranked Stars across town at Oklahoma City University.
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