Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 KINGSVILLE, Texas (Feb. 6, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian baseball coach Lonny Cobble purposely put together a tough nonconference schedule for the Eagles this season, wanting to see how his squad would respond to the challenge.

The answer to that question through the season's opening weekend is: pretty well. OC beat Texas A&M-Kingsville 8-2 and 5-4 at Nolan Ryan Field on Saturday to cap a three-game series sweep of the seventh-ranked team in NCAA Division II's South Central Region.

OC (3-0) entered the season at No. 8 in those regional rankings and should move up after a road sweep of a TAMUK squad that won or shared the Lone Star Conference title the past two seasons.

"That was a great series sweep," Cobble said. "It's a tough place to play and our guys handled it great. I thought our pitching staff was great all weekend. We didn't hit as well as I would have liked, but (TAMUK) has some great arms. But we found a way to get big hits when we needed them."

In the first game, left-hander Kyle Lacy – making his first pitching start in an OC uniform – allowed only two runs on three hits while recording nine strikeouts in seven innings of work. Lacy (1-0) gave way in the eighth to Garett Hill, who allowed the Javelinas only one hit over two shutout innings of work.

Robert Rosser's RBI single in the top of the third put OC up 2-0 in the first game, but TAMUK (0-3) scored twice in the bottom of the inning.

Ben McKenzie's double in the fifth off TAMUK reliever Shane Veeder (0-1) scored Rosser, who had walked, to put the Eagles back ahead at 3-2 and Rosser's seventh-inning sacrifice fly brought home Derek Jones to make it 4-2. OC broke open the game with a four-run seventh, highlighted by a two-run single by Lane Paul.

One of Cobble's points of emphasis in the preseason was to finish off doubleheaders and he seized on the opportunity for a lesson between games.

"We had really hoped to get two of three (games), but once we got the first two, we challenged the boys to get the back end of a doubleheader and they stepped up," Cobble said.

Lacy tripled and scored as part of a two-run fourth inning that put OC ahead 4-3, but the Javelinas tied the game in the fifth.

OC senior Derek Jones drew a two-out walk in the seventh from TAMUK reliever Jako Kelm (0-1) and came around on two wild pitches, giving the Eagles a 5-4 lead.

Dillon Fazekas, whose three-run, ninth-inning double staked the Eagles to a 4-3 win in the series opener on Friday, came on to pitch the final three innings on Saturday and was dominant, striking out six and not allowing the Javelinas so much as a baserunner to earn the save.

OC reliever Jake Moore (1-0) picked up the win with 1 2/3 shutout innings of work.

OC, which is scheduled to open the season with eight straight games away from home, will face Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant on Tuesday.