Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AUSTIN, Texas (March 31, 2017) – A great frustration for Oklahoma Christian baseball coach Lonny Cobble and his staff was that the Eagles hadn't won at NCAA Division II power St. Edward's (Texas) since OC joined the Heartland Conference.

That changed Friday. OC used a three-run seventh inning, keyed by a huge RBI single by Zac Bycko, to down No. 24-ranked St. Edward's 6-4 in the opening game of a three-game series at Lucian-Hamilton Field. The Hilltoppers rebounded for an 8-3 win in the second game, setting up a showdown for the series win at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

OC (18-15, 5-6 Heartland) had been 0-4 in two previous trips to Austin, losing a single game in 2013 before being swept by St. Edward's (20-12, 7-4) in 2015. Last year in Oklahoma City, OC took the series against the Hilltoppers by a 2-1 count but lost twice to St. Edward's in the conference tournament, including in the championship round.

In Friday's opener, OC jumped on St. Edward's starter Brandon Boone for two runs in the first inning, taking advantage of two errors. The Hilltoppers answered with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning, but OC starter Dalton Rentz settled down and allowed only two more hits over the next five innings. Rentz (6-2) eventually struck out 10 batters in six innings of work.

The Eagles tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the second, when Garrett Wages was hit by a pitch and scored on a groundout by Isaac Holt. But just as Rentz was effective, so was St. Edward's reliever Austin Weaver, who blanked the Eagles from the third through sixth innings.

OC finally broke through in the seventh against another reliever, Ben Moralez (0-1). Lane Paul singled to left field with one out and Drew Wright pinch-ran for him. Another reliever, Hayden Bach, came on for the Hilltoppers but he walked Chad Kennedy before Bycko's single to right field scored Wright.

Josh Garbrecht followed with a squeeze bunt that scored Kennedy from third base. Bycko scored when Jake Baxter reached on an error, making it 6-3.

OC reliever Garett Hill gave up a double to Romeo Cortina and a run-scoring single by Gable Whitacre with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but retired Blake Alexander on a fly ball to end the game to secure his second save of the season.

St. Edward's jumped on OC starter Mason McAlister (1-3) for three runs in the first inning of the second game and the Hilltoppers never trailed. St. Edward's made it 6-1 in the fifth on a three-run home run by Whitacre and starter Stuart Springer (6-0) made that hold up, allowing two runs and six hits while striking out eight Eagles in eight innings.

Garbrecht (sixth inning) and Luke Reynolds (ninth inning) each hit a solo home run for OC.