Box Score BETHANY, Okla. (March 14, 2017) – Chase Kuwitzky and Drew Wright keyed the offense early and Oklahoma Christian's bullpen held the lead as the Eagles beat Southern Nazarene 5-3 in a nonconference baseball game on Tuesday afternoon at Feland Field.

OC (13-10) seized a 4-0 lead in the first two innings against its local rival and five Eagle pitchers limited SNU (1-20) to seven hits while recording 11 strikeouts.

The Eagles went up 1-0 in the first when Wright, a freshman from Midwest City, drew a walk from Southern Nazarene starter Joe Toilolo (0-1). Wright moved to third base on a single by Lane Paul and scored when Chad Kennedy reached on a fielder's choice grounder.

Kuwitzky, a senior from Norman, delivered a two-out triple down the right-field line to score Ryan Ward to key a three-run second inning for OC. After a pair of walks to Garrett Wages and Hayden Strobel loaded the bases, Wright's infield single brought home Kuwitzky and Wages to make it 4-0.

The Crimson Storm scored twice in the fourth, taking advantage of two hit batsmen and a wild pitch. OC extended its lead to 5-2 on Kennedy's RBI single to right field in the seventh inning, but Mike Descisciolo's single to left-center scored Anthony Wiggins in the bottom of the eighth, pulling SNU within 5-3.

The fifth OC pitcher, senior Joe Dell Williams, allowed a single but retired the baserunner on a game-ending double-play  to finish off his first career save.

OC junior left-hander Peyton Blass (2-0) picked up the win, striking out four batters in two innings of work. Freshman southpaw Gabe Rodery made his first career start and struck out five Crimson Storm hitters in three innings.

The Eagles will visit another local rival on Wednesday afternoon, making the short trip to Central Oklahoma in Edmond for a 2 p.m. game.