Box Score CONWAY, Ark. (May 16, 2015) – The opponent probably was different than Oklahoma Christian expected, but the result for the Eagles was the same as in 2013 and 2014 – a National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region baseball championship.
Top-seeded OC completed an unbeaten run through the region tournament on Saturday, rolling past third-seeded tournament host Central Baptist (Ark.) 13-3 in seven innings at Victory Field. The Eagles earned their third straight berth in the NCCAA World Series, which will begin Wednesday in Mason, Ohio.
Ben McKenzie had three doubles and three RBIs,
Caden Cleveland homered and had three RBIs and
Austin Orth also homered for OC (32-20), which before its current run hadn't won a postseason tournament since taking NAIA district and regional titles in 1972.
Junior left-hander
Hunter Raley (6-4) struck out six Central Baptist batters in five innings and relievers
Kolton Brown and
Dylon Sturges combined to throw two shutout innings as the Eagles won in run-rule fashion.
"It was a great all-around game for us," OC coach
Lonny Cobble said. "Raley threw well and we scored runs behind him. I was proud of our guys today. With all the rain and the delays we hung in there and kept our focus."
Central Baptist (30-26) upset second-seeded McMurry (Texas) 4-3 in the losers' bracket final, the Mustangs' fourth straight win after losing their tournament opener to Arlington Baptist (Texas). Central Baptist had to immediately turn around and face OC and quickly threatened against Raley in the first inning, loading the bases with three singles, two of those bunts.
But Raley escaped the jam after allowing only one run, and two innings later, McKenzie put OC ahead for good with a two-run double to right-center field that scored
Jordan Lopez and
Kyle Lacy, who each had singled against Central Baptist starter Justin Southerland (2-5). Southerland didn't make it out of the fourth inning.
The Eagles broke it open with a five-run fifth inning, as OC sent 11 batters to the plate against three Central Baptist pitchers. McKenzie had an RBI double to right field and
Jackson Matthews and
Brady Baugh each had a run-scoring single during the outburst.
An OC error led to two runs for the Mustangs in the bottom of the fifth, pulling Central Baptist within 7-3, but the Eagles answered with a three-run sixth, keyed by a RBI double by Baugh and a two-run homer by Orth, his first longball of the season. Orth finished 3-for-4.
Cleveland's first homer of the season, a three-run shot in the seventh, made it 13-3 and put the 10-run rule into play once the Mustangs failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
