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Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 10, 2015) – With one swing,
Ben McKenzie gave Oklahoma Christian one of its most dramatic wins of the baseball season.
McKenzie's three-run home run over the left-field wall with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning capped an OC rally and gave the Eagles an 8-6 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State, capping a doubleheader sweep on Friday afternoon at Dobson Field.
OC rode the solid pitching of
Dillon Endecott and
Matt Brown to a 7-1 win in the opener. OC (23-14, 9-8 Heartland Conference) will go for the series sweep of Panhandle State (3-33, 2-15) on Saturday at noon.
The Eagles scratched out a run in each of the first two innings of the first game before jumping on Panhandle State starter Walker Rainwater (0-8) for three runs in the third, with
Derek Jones and
Caden Cleveland delivering run-scoring singles.
That run support was more than enough for Endecott (4-3), who struck out eight and allowed only three hits in five innings. The Aggies' only run came on a solo homer by Lucas Ogaz in the fourth. Brown pitched two innings of one-hit shutout ball, striking out four, to close out the game for OC.
OC stranded seven runners in scoring position against the Aggies in the second game, but still led 3-0 after Jones' two-run single in the bottom of the fifth. Panhandle State pulled within 3-1 in the sixth and then jumped on the Eagles for five runs in the seventh, taking advantage of two key errors. Collin Smith's two-run, two-out single gave the Aggies a 6-3 lead.
The Eagles immediately answered, as consecutive doubles by
Chase Kuwitzky and
Zac Cobble fueled a two-run seventh. The Aggies missed a golden chance to extend their lead in the eighth, as Ogaz was tagged out by OC catcher
Austin Orth on a busted squeeze play with one out.
In the ninth, Panhandle State reliever B.J. Henry (0-4) hit Cobble to open the inning. After
Kyle Lacy sacrificed Cobble to second base, Henry hit Jones. On the next pitch, McKenzie launched his third homer of the season, making a winner out of OC reliever
Dylon Sturges (1-1), who pitched the final 1 2/3 innings.
Panhandle State has lost 17 straight games but has scored wins over Heartland foes Arkansas-Fort Smith and Newman (Kan.).
