Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 15, 2015) – There's a reason baseball coaches often emphasize pitching and defense and Oklahoma Christian showed why on Sunday against Dakota State (S.D.).

Five OC pitchers – led by star turns by freshmen Jared Price and Garett Hill – combined to allow only two runs in 14 innings as the Eagles rolled to a 10-2, 3-0 sweep of Dakota State on a chilly afternoon at Dobson Field. The sweep gave OC (4-5) three wins over the Trojans in as many tries in two days.

The Eagles turned five double plays in the doubleheader, including four in consecutive innings in the second game as they nursed a slim lead. It was the sort of performance for which OC coach Lonny Cobble has been searching.

"That's one thing we've worked on," Cobble said. "Like we talked about at the beginning of the year, we really thought our defense was going to have to be solid. It was nice to see Garett Hill come in and throw a ground ball to get us out of a bases-loaded jam. The next three innings he continues to go out and gets us ground balls to turn those double plays."

Dakota State (0-4) scored its only two runs in the first inning of the opener, ironically only because of the only two OC errors on the day. But the Trojans managed only four hits in six innings against Price (1-0), who seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and worked out of several jams.

"Jared Price has a lot of potential," Cobble said. "We think he's got a bright future for us. We brought him in in a game against Southeastern last week and we know the nerves may have been overwhelming in the first outing and he struggled a little bit. It's really nice to let him get back in and start a game. … I thought he showed a lot of composure.

OC finally broke through against Dakota State starter Mitch Bouchard (0-1) in the fourth, batting around and scoring five runs. Kolton Brown had a two-run single and Kyle Lacy added a two-run triple to right field during the outburst.

Catcher Caden Cleveland added an RBI triple in the fifth for OC and the Eagles scored four more in the sixth against reliever Jamie Jorgensen. Lacy had the big blow, a two-run home run over the right-field fence.

In the second game, OC took advantage of two dropped popups by Dakota State first baseman Jordan Entrikin in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead against the Trojans' starter, Taylor Boerger (0-1).

The Trojans threatened several times against OC starter Zach Loomis but couldn't break through. Loomis coaxed a double-play lineout from Jake Harris in the third. In the fourth, Hill (1-0) came on in relief with the bases loaded and one out and on Hill's first pitch, Dakota State's Nick Serrata hit into a double play to end the inning.

Hill coaxed two more double-play grounders, one each in the fifth and sixth. In his 15-pitch outing, he recorded eight outs – almost unheard-of efficiency for any pitcher.

The Eagles scored a pair of insurance runs in the sixth against reliever Anthony Martinez, with Zac Cobble hitting a run-scoring single and later scoring himself on a groundout by Ben McKenzie. On the day, Cobble was 2-for-3 and reached base four other times – twice on walks, twice when he was hit by a pitch.

Dylon Sturges pitched a perfect seventh inning to record his second save of the baseball season for OC.

Weather permitting, the Eagles will visit crosstown rival Southern Nazarene on Tuesday afternoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf-QCWTgeWQ&feature=youtu.be