OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (April 17, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian baseball team lost a long fought battle to No. 6 ranked Oklahoma Baptist University on Sunday falling 16-13 in the final inning.

After a scoreless first inning, the Eagles got things moving first in the bottom of the second when Clint Bowker cranked a two-run homer over the left fence to send home Tyler Gipson and take the 2-0 lead.

In the following inning, however, Oklahoma Baptist trampled the OC defense and put up seven runs, including four from a grand slam, to take a five run lead over the Eagles.

OC responded with a single run in the bottom of the inning when Taylor Parcus hit a double down the left field line to score Chance Nichols and leave the score at a 7-3 OBU lead heading into the fourth.

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Bison continued to assault the Eagle defense and pitchers alike as OBU put up five more runs during the top of the fifth to lead OC by nine at 12-3.

Despite an unfortunate finish in sight, the Eagles refused to roll over and rallied in the bottom of the inning to collect seven hits and eight runs to trail the Bison by just a single run at 12-11.

Following a Parcus double to start off the inning, Caleb Price singled to send Parcus home for the first run. On the next at bat, Jordan Price followed with another double to send home Caleb Price from first. With the Eagles on fire, Dustin Andrews followed with yet another double to send home Jordan Price for run number three.

Still with no outs, Gipson took the plate and reached base on an error that allowed Andrews to make it home for the score. Bowker was the next to bat and connected on a single to advance Gipson to third, but an error on the play allowed Gipson home for the fifth score of the inning.

Two batters later, Jeff Davis hit another double for the Eagles driving home Bowker for the score. Josh Balch was the next to head home scoring on a fielder's choice hit by Parcus before pinch runner Garrett Stephenson scored on a single from Caleb Price to trail the Bison by just a single run at 12-11.

Two scoreless innings followed before the Bison tallied another run in the top of the eighth to lead the Eagles by two. In the bottom of the inning, the Eagles continued their comeback tying the game up at 13-13 with two runs. Caleb Price registered the first score on a sacrifice fly from Jordan Price before Gipson hit a home run two batters later to tie things up.

In the top of the ninth, the Bison managed to score three more runs to leave the Eagles trailing 16-13 going into the bottom of the inning. Unable to respond, the Eagles suffered the hard fought three-run loss.

Bowker led the Eagles' hitting efforts going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Gipson made a big contribution as well going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a RBI.

The loss leaves the Eagles at 22-13 on the season and at 14-10 for conference play. On Tuesday, the OC baseball team will host the University of Central Oklahoma at home for a single game starting at 6:30 p.m.

-OC-