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Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (March 12, 2016) – As
Jake Baxter's second home run of the game cleared the left-field fence at Dobson Field on Saturday afternoon, the Oklahoma Christian Eagles poured onto the field and their celebration was long and loud.
It's not often anyone takes a doubleheader from NCAA Division II baseball power St. Edward's (Texas), but that's what OC did. Baxter provided both runs in the 2-1 win in the second game, after the Eagles took advantage of five errors – including four in one inning – by the ninth-ranked Hilltoppers to win the first game 6-1.
OC (10-8, 2-0 Heartland Conference) clinched the series win against St. Edward's (16-7, 0-2) for the first time since joining the NCAA Division II league with the 2013 season. The series finale will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday.
St. Edward's lost only one conference series each of the past two years and went 22-5 in league play last season, so taking two wins off the Hilltoppers is a big deal, OC coach
Lonny Cobble said.
"St. Edward's is known nationally for how good they are every year and it's nice to take two from those guys on a day like today," Cobble said. "… I was very pleased with how the day went.
"Hopefully things are starting to head in the right direction for us and hopefully we'll continue to play good baseball."
In the opener, OC jumped on St. Edward's starter Collin Sherrod (5-1) for six hits and three runs in the first inning, with
Kyle Lacy and
Lane Paul delivering run-scoring singles.
In the third inning, the Hilltoppers committed four errors – one each by the first baseman, second baseman, third baseman and catcher – that led to two more runs for the Eagles. Lacy scored after drawing a walk after two defenders dropped foul balls he'd hit on two consecutive pitches.
Lacy tripled and scored on Paul's sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 6-0.
Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers struggled to find traction against OC starter
Bradley Horn (3-1), who recorded eight strikeouts in six innings of work. The Hilltoppers' only run came in the seventh against OC reliever
Garett Hill and was unearned.
"I thought Horn did a really good job," Cobble said. "He's just been a competitor for us and it was nice to see him come out and have a good game and get some runs behind him. We haven't given him a lot of run support this year."
The second game was a classic pitchers' duel between OC senior
Brennan Walker – making his first weekend start – and Cameron Stanton of St. Edward's. Stanton surrendered a one-out solo homer to Baxter in the fourth, while Walker gave up a solo homer to Dylan Watts in the sixth.
Walker left the game with one out in the seventh and reliever
Jake Moore wriggled out of a two-on, one-out jam. Moore threw a hitless eighth inning before giving way to
Dylan Fazekas (1-2), who tossed a hitless ninth.
Even though Stanton had retired eight of OC's previous nine batters, St. Edward's coach Rob Penders pulled him after eight innings, sending reliever Eric Hester (2-2) out to start the ninth inning. Baxter sent Hester's first pitch over the wall, sparking the Eagles' celebration. It was Baxter's eighth homer of the season.
"That was a lot of fun," Cobble said. "Jake's been swinging it real well. The scary thing is, we had talked about pinch-hitting for him earlier in the day, because we didn't think he was having a good day. I'm glad we didn't."
Lonny Cobble on the doubleheader:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIRvarr_sig&feature=em-upload_owner
