Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 17, 2015) – When Oklahoma Christian right-hander Dillon Endecott is in the zone, he's among the top pitchers in NCAA Division II, something he demonstrated on Friday afternoon at Dobson Field.

The senior from McLoud threw a three-hit shutout and outdueled the Heartland Conference's ERA leader, Matt McClain, to lead the Eagles to a 4-0 win over No. 13-ranked St. Mary's (Texas) in the opener of a three-game series.

St. Mary's rebounded in the second game to edge the Eagles 2-1. League-leading St. Mary's (29-10, 16-4 Heartland) and OC (25-15, 11-9) will play the series' decisive game at noon Saturday.

McClain (6-2) entered the series leading the conference (and ranking 12th in NCAA Division II) with a 1.17 ERA. But the left-hander – the reigning Heartland pitcher of the week – ran into trouble in consecutive innings. In the fourth, Derek Jones and Ben McKenzie both singled for OC and Kolton Brown – the reigning Heartland player of the week – laced a two-run double to left field.

In the fifth, Cody Rosecrans led off with a single and eventually scored on a two-out single to right field by Kyle Lacy. Jones followed with a double down the left-field line to put OC ahead 4-0.

Meanwhile, Endecott (5-3) was cruising. He surrendered consecutive singles to Keith Funk and Jake Marler in the third, but rebounded to strike out Brooks Orton and retire Al Perez on a fly ball. Endecott eventually retired 13 straight batters before Scott Jones singled with two outs in the seventh.

OC left-hander Kelby Reneau (3-5) pitched another gem in the second game, allowing just four hits and two runs in seven innings but still taking the loss. The Rattlers scored both their runs in the fourth inning, when Mario Maldonado doubled after singles by Derek Hamilton and Scott Jones.

St. Mary's starter Kris Gardner (9-2) allowed only four hits while going the distance for the Rattlers. OC scored its only run in the sixth, when Rosecrans doubled and came home on a two-out double by Lacy.