EDMOND, Okla. (Feb. 1, 2019) –
Hunter Markwardt supplied the drama,
Abe Spencer took one for the team and Oklahoma Christian emerged from Wendell Simmons Field on Friday as an unlikely winner.
Down to his team's final strike in the ninth inning, Markwardt smacked a game-tying homer and Spencer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, giving the Eagles a 6-5 win over Pittsburg State (Kan.) in the opening baseball game of the Edmond 1st Pitch Classic.
OC won its season opener after squandering the lead after a four-run first inning by going without a hit for 7 2/3 innings. But Markwardt's homer apparently energized the Eagles' bats, as OC had six of their 11 hits from that point on. Of the Eagles' hits, Markwardt (4 for 6) and
Callen Crockett (3 for 5) provided the majority of them from the top two spots in the batting order.
"We're a real inexperienced team," OC coach
Lonny Cobble said. "I think we came out and had lots of energy early. We were worried about starting quick and then going into a coast mode, which we kind of did. But that was huge by
Hunter Markwardt coming up in the ninth with a 1-2 count and hitting the ball out of the ballpark to tie this thing up and give us a chance."
In its first game against Pittsburg State (0-1) in five seasons, OC (1-0) quickly jumped on the Gorillas' left-handed starting pitcher, Brad Kinsey. Markwardt doubled to lead off and Crockett reached on a gorgeous bunt single that hugged the third-base line all the way to the bag.
Spencer, in his first-ever plate appearance for OC, drew a bases-loaded walk and freshman
Kevin Collyar and
Garrett Wages each reached on fielder's-choice plays, both also driving in a run.
Austin Stokes' infield single scored Collyar to put OC up 4-0.
But Kinsey settled down and didn't allow another hit after Markwardt's infield single to lead off the second inning. Pitt State reliever Kory Haught retired all nine batters he faced in a three-inning stint.
John Oliver's solo home run off OC starter
Gabe Rodery in the fourth inning made it 4-1 and the Gorillas got to the Eagles' bullpen in the sixth, using three singles, two walks and wild pitch to score four runs and take the lead.
Connor Lungwitz (0-1) took over for Haught on the mount for the Gorillas in the eighth inning and retired the first five batters he faced before Markwardt came to the plate. With a 1-2 count, the junior center fielder sent a rocket over the center-field wall to tie the game.
"I don't know what else people need to see about that guy," Cobble said of Markwardt. "He's the real deal. The guy's a winner."
A couple of baserunning blunders cost OC in the 10th inning, but with one out in the 11th,
Blake Empkey singled and Markwardt followed with an infield single. Crockett then hit a ball that caromed off Lungwitz toward the left side of the infield, loading the bases.
Lungwitz struck out
Brendon Bavester, but with a two-strike count against Spencer, he hit Spencer in the back to force in Empkey with the winning run.
"It was kind of a bad way to end the game, but I want to be on the right side of that instead of the wrong side of it," Cobble said. "We needed something good to happen. We have a young team and you just never know which way the team is going to go when you're so young. We had three freshmen in the game at one time and all of those guys did a really great job for us."
Jake Tomcheck (1-0), the last of the seven pitchers OC used, threw two innings of hitless relief to pick up the win.
OC will face Missouri Southern in the Edmond 1st Pitch Classic at 1 p.m. Saturday, then will play rival Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Lonny Cobble discusses the game:
https://youtu.be/MeLhj3IVwxQ
