Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 LAWTON, Okla. (Feb. 25, 2017) – For the second time this baseball season, Oklahoma Christian on Saturday afternoon successfully pulled off a ninth-inning rally for a win.
Jake Baxter's two-run, two-out home run capped the four-run rally and lifted the Eagles past Cameron 6-4 in the second game of a doubleheader at McCord Field. Cameron won the first game 5-3 in eight innings.
The comeback gave OC (8-7) what could prove to be a key series win against Lone Star Conference power Cameron (11-3), with which it could well be battling for a spot in the NCAA Division II South Central Region postseason tournament. Cameron entered the series ranked No. 7 in the region, while OC was unranked after appearing in the preseason region poll.
In the second game, Cameron rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to lead 4-2 after a two-run seventh, keyed by Jorden Fields' run-scoring double. But OC answered in the ninth inning against Cameron reliever Javarius Banks (2-1), who had picked up the pitching win in the first game.
With one out,
Hayden Strobel reached on an infield single before pinch-hitter
Kolton Brown singled up the middle.
Lane Paul followed with a single up the middle to score Strobel, but
Drew Wright – pinch-running for Brown – was thrown out at third base.
Undeterred,
Chad Kennedy doubled to left field to score Paul and tie the game. Baxter then homered to center field to put the Eagles ahead 6-4.
OC freshman reliever
Gabe Rodery recorded two quick strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth before giving up a single and a walk. Junior
Garett Hill took over for Rodery and coaxed a ground ball from Cole Williams for the final out, giving Hill his first save of the season.
Rodery (1-0) had six strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings, as did OC starter
Mason McAlister in 6 1/3 innings. Freshman
Zac Bycko – making his first start, at catcher – went 4-for-4 at the plate for the Eagles, while Paul finished 3-for-4 and scored twice and Kennedy had two RBIs.
OC's other ninth-inning rally was a seven-run comeback that gave the Eagles an 8-7 win over Northwest Missouri State on Feb. 17.
The first game – scheduled for seven innings – was tied 3-3 after OC reliever
Jake Moore escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh. OC also loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth, but Banks struck out the next two batters.
In the bottom of the inning, Moore (0-1) walked Tom McGarry before Micah Kaaukai homered over the left-field wall to give the Aggies the win.
Garrett Wages led OC in the first game, going 2-for-3 with a two-run single in the fourth inning that pulled the Eagles even at 3-3.
OC will be off until Wednesday, when the Eagles will host cross-Edmond rival Central Oklahoma.
