Box Score WICHITA, Kan. (April 14, 2017) – A six-run ninth-inning rally fell painfully short for Oklahoma Christian on Friday afternoon and the Eagles lost 18-17 to Newman (Kan.) at McCarthy Field.
OC (23-18, 10-8 Heartland Conference) remained in a tie for fourth place in the league standings with Rogers State. Both teams have six Heartland games remaining, including three against each other later this month. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will qualify for the Heartland postseason tournament.
OC's pitching limited the Newman (17-21, 5-10) to one run in 16 innings in a doubleheader sweep on Thursday but the Jets' offense came alive Friday, pounding out 20 hits against five pitchers. Newman's 18 runs were the most by an OC opponent since the Eagles lost 24-8 to Rogers State on March 6, 2010, and the fourth-most since OC revived its baseball program in 2008.
OC also had 20 hits, the Eagles' second-highest total of the season, as the Eagles posted their highest run total in a loss since the program's return.
Hayden Strobel,
Lane Paul and
Kolton Brown each had four hits, while Paul had six RBIs (matching his career high, set against Southern Nazarene last season) and Brown added five.
Paul and Brown each recorded their second career two-homer game for OC. Paul's home runs were a two-run shot over the left-field wall in the third inning and a three-run blast during the Eagles' six-run fifth-inning outburst. Brown, the reigning Heartland hitter of the week, smashed a solo homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Newman's Aaron Mack was a one-man wrecking crew, going 5-for-6 with three doubles, a triple and a home run with four RBIs. His 13 total bases matched the fifth-highest single-game total in Heartland history.
The Eagles twice came from behind to take the lead and was up 10-8 after their big fifth inning, but Newman answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning – three off OC reliever
Matthew Fusselman (1-1) – to go back ahead for good.
Newman scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth and had a seemingly safe 18-11 lead entering the ninth, but the Eagles battered Newman closer Matt Riney, sending 10 batters to the plate. Strobel hit an RBI single and
Chase Kuwitzky hit a bases-loaded double down the left-field line to pull OC within 18-15 before the Jets even recorded an out in the inning.
Brown's two-run, two-out double – also down the left-field line – cut the margin to 18-17 before Newman second baseman Jacob Hamerle ended the game, overcoming swirling winds and chasing down a high popup by
Jared Price to end the game. Riney still picked up his seventh save of the season.
Garrett Hammond (2-1) threw three innings of relief for Newman to get the pitching win.
OC will host Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday in a nonconference game and Arkansas-Fort Smith in a three-game Heartland series starting next Friday. UAFS (23-15, 11-4) is currently in second place in the Heartland.
