FORT SMITH, Ark. (March 8, 2019) –
Gabe Rodery pitched a second straight complete-game shutout as Oklahoma Christian earned a split of its baseball doubleheader Friday at Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Rodery outdueled UAFS ace Javon Rigsby in a 1-0 thriller in the opener, but the Lions answered by holding off OC in the late innings to escape Crowder Field with a 4-3 win in the second game and end the Eagles' six-game winning streak.
Even though OC (12-3) and Arkansas-Fort Smith (11-5) are Heartland Conference rivals, the games won't count in the league standings. Still, the three-game series figured to be a good early test for both clubs, which entered the game ranked sixth (OC) and 10th (UAFS) in the South Central Region rankings.
Both Rodery (3-0) and Rigsby (1-2) pitched brilliantly. Rodery, a junior left-hander from Verdigris who's the reigning Heartland and South Central Region pitcher of the week, allowed only one runner to advance as far as third base and retired 12 batters in a row to end the game. He hasn't allowed a run in 15 1/3 consecutive innings.
Rigsby, meanwhile, allowed only two hits and retired 14 straight batters from the second inning through the sixth. But
Callen Crockett opened the seventh with the Eagles' second hit, a single through the left side of the infield, and Rigsby then hit
Blake Empkey with a pitch. Both runners moved up when
Alex Garcia was retired on a fly ball to right field.
Rigsby intentionally walked
Errett Edwards before Crockett scored on a sacrifice fly by
Garrett Wages. Rodery retired the Lions in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
The pitching again was strong in the second game. OC starter
Robbie Suhr (0-2) allowed just six hits in six innings, but was victimized by one bad inning. UAFS starter Christian Goshen (2-0) and reliever Cooper VanKooten combined to allow only eight hits.
Hunter Markwardt doubled to lead off the fourth inning and scored on a single by Empkey, and Empkey later scored on a single by Edwards to put OC ahead 2-0. But the Lions answered with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning. Brooks Sunny's infield single scored Kyle Love, who led off with a double, and Logan Easley singled and eventually scored on a passed ball to tie the game. UAFS took the lead on a two-run single by Dylan Hurt.
The Eagles pulled within 4-3 in the sixth after Empkey doubled to left-center field and scored on a single by Edwards, but VanKooten came on to shut down that threat without further damage and allowed only two hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. He earned his first save of the season.
The teams will play the decisive game of the series at 2 p.m. Saturday.