Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (May 6, 2016) – Oklahoma Christian was able to finish off one baseball game with a last-inning rally, but proved unable to do it twice on Friday against Arkansas-Fort Smith at Dobson Field.

The Eagles forced extra innings with a three-run rally in the opener and eventually won 10-9 on Jared Sterling's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning, but UAFS rode an early three-run homer to a 5-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader.

The upshot of the split, and other results within the Heartland Conference on Friday, was that OC (28-19, 17-9 Heartland) will be the No. 3 seed in next week's league tournament and will face Lubbock Christian (Texas) next Thursday.

OC fought uphill all the way in the opener against UAFS (23-21, 12-14) thanks to a six-RBI performance by Blaise Warrick, who went 3-for-5 with six RBIs and hit two home runs for the Lions. His second homer, a two-run shot, put UAFS up 6-4 in the fifth and when the Lions scored twice in the top of the seventh of the scheduled seven-inning game, OC appeared to be sunk.

But three UAFS pitchers had trouble throwing strikes in the bottom of the inning, walking five OC batters. Ben McKenzie laced a two-run double down the left-field line to pull the Eagles within 8-7, and Chase Kuwitzky drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game.

UAFS went back ahead in the eighth, but Derek Jones singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Baxter to again pull even.

OC took its only lead of the game in the ninth. With one out, Austin Orth reached on an error and Austin Peck pinch-ran for him. UAFS pitcher Jake Tolbert (1-2) appeared to have picked Peck off of first base, but second baseman Kendall Emerson dropped a throw during the rundown, allowing Peck to safely reach second. With two outs, Sterling singled to left field and Peck raced home with the winning run.

Reliever Jake Moore (6-1) picked up the pitching win for OC after two innings of work.

In the second game, OC was unable to generate much offense against UAFS left-hander Evan Sanders (8-4), who went the distance and recorded seven strikeouts.

The Lions went up 1-0 in the first on a RBI single by Casey Cooper. A solo home run by Derek Jones and a run-scoring single by McKenzie put OC up 2-1, but Cooper's three-run homer off OC starter Dylan Fazekas (3-5) highlighted a four-run third inning for UAFS. Neither team scored after that.

The teams will play the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m., with a Senior Day ceremony set to be held before the game.