OKLAHOMA CITY (April 18, 2019) –
Gabe Rodery has posted some outstanding performances this baseball season, but the Oklahoma Christian left-hander topped them all on Thursday – and the Eagles needed every bit of what he provided.
Rodery outdueled Arkansas-Fort Smith ace Javon Rigsby, throwing a complete-game one-hit shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts as the Eagles edged UAFS 1-0 in the opening game of a three-game series at Dobson Field.
The Lions bounced back to down OC 8-3 in the second game, setting up a rubber match at 1 p.m. Friday.
OC (27-13, 9-5 Heartland Conference) slipped a spot to third in the league standings, while UAFS (20-16, 7-7) held on to fourth place. The top four teams will qualify for the Heartland's postseason tournament.
The duel between Rodery (7-1) and Rigsby (4-5) was the second this season. On March 8 in Fort Smith, Ark., Rodery pitched a complete-game three-hit shutout while Rigsby allowed only two hits, but gave up a seventh-inning run in a 1-0 win for the Eagles.
A 70-minute rain delay midway through the game didn't faze either pitcher. Rigsby allowed only five hits and one walk while striking out seven, while Rodery, a junior from Verdigris, retired the first eight batters he faced and twice struck out the side, in the first and fifth innings. The Lions' only hit was a single to center field by Kyle Love to lead off the fourth inning.
It was Rigsby who finally blinked. OC freshman
Kevin Collyar led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double to left field and moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by
Austin McCain. With the UAFS infield pulled in, freshman
Grant Lake singled to right field to score Collyar with the winning run.
In the second game, OC starter
Robbie Suhr (0-4) picked up where Rodery left off, pitching six shutout innings while the Eagles built a lead. In the sixth,
Hunter Markwardt doubled to left field – extending his hitting streak to 26 games – and scored to make it 2-0.
Suhr, who had five strikeouts, quickly recorded two outs in the seventh but then ran into trouble. Three pitchers, three hits, four walks, two wild pitches and a hit batsman later, the Lions had scored six runs to take the lead.
OC pulled within 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, as
Julien Ly singled home
Garrett Wages, but UAFS scored twice more in the eighth to essentially seal the win.
UAFS starter Korbin Polly (2-0) pitched six-plus innings before giving way to Foster Pace, who pitched the final three innings to pick up his second save. Each one had five strikeouts.
Collyar had three of OC's eight hits the second game.
