OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 24, 2020) – Fighting through a rough stretch, Oklahoma Christian's baseball team needed something good to happen and catcher Coleton Hinkle went out and made sure it did on Monday.

Hinkle went 4 for 5 with six RBIs, three on a home run during a six-run eighth inning that lifted the Eagles past South Central Region power Texas-Tyler 11-10 on a soggy, dreary afternoon at Dobson Field.

The rally allowed OC (4-10, 4-10 Lone Star Conference) to salvage one win from its four-game series with Texas-Tyler (12-2, 12-2), which had moved into fourth place in the South Central Region rankings earlier in the day. Despite the conditions – temperatures in the 40s with a strong north wind and the lingering effects of rain that fell Sunday and Monday – the Eagles rolled up a season-high 20 hits.

"We needed something good to happen to help us turn this season around and (rallying) was huge for us," OC coach Lonny Cobble said.

OC fell into a quick 4-0 hole in the top of the first inning, as Lukas Polanco and Cade Watson had RBI hits for the Patriots and trailed 8-2 after Texas-Tyler scored four more runs in the fourth, three on a home run to left-center field by Polanco.

After recording a RBI double in the second inning and another double in the fourth, Hinkle – a sophomore from Grapevine, Texas, who transferred from Centenary – brought home two more runs in the fifth with a single that pulled OC within 8-5. Texas-Tyler tacked on two more runs in the seventh off OC reliever Robbie Suhr (1-1), but he settled down and kept the Patriots at bay after that.

OC started the eighth inning with consecutive singles by Blake Empkey, Grant Lake and Michael DiFiore – the latter one driving in a run and chasing Texas-Tyler reliever Noah Bates. The Patriots brought in their closer, Matthew McMillan (0-2), but he walked the first batter he faced, Errett Edwards, to load the bases.

A groundout by Cole Lee brought home another run, making it 10-7, before Hinkle homered over the right-center field fence to tie the game. Austin McCain followed with another single and he stole second base before Jayvien Joseph singled up the middle, scoring McCain to put the Eagles ahead.

"The whole series, (Hinkle) has hit the ball pretty hard," Cobble said. "Really, the whole year he's hit the ball hard. He just hasn't had a lot of luck. That's just kind of like our season. We needed something good to happen and Coleton comes up and gets two doubles, gets one off the wall. His out was even (hit) hard and then he hits the three-run home run to tie the game up – that was huge for us."

In the ninth, Suhr retired the first two Patriots on fly balls, and after Riley Jepson singled, Suhr speared a line drive by Bowie Farris to end the game.

"Robbie has done a good job," Cobble said. "We knew Robbie could help us. I wish we could clone him, because we'd love him to start, but we've needed help in the back end of that bullpen. We talked to him two weeks ago about it and he's accepted that role. He came in today and made a huge impact and kept us in it.

The win was the first for the Eagles in seven home games this season. OC hosted current NCAA Division II Angelo State (Texas) in a three-game series after facing another top LSC foe, Texas A&M-Kingsville, on the road to open the season. Those two teams and Texas-Tyler all are ranked in the top six in the South Central Region.

"The Lone Star Conference is really tough," Cobble said. "You can't take a week off. Every game is important because you never know which game is going to keep you out (of the postseason). You just have to keep battling. It's a tough conference. It's a fun conference to be in because there are a lot of good teams, but there's no rest."

OC will visit another traditional Lone Star power, Tarleton State (Texas), for a four-game series that will start Friday. This will be the Texans' last season in the LSC, as they are moving into NCAA Division I with the 2020-21 academic year.

Lonny Cobble discusses the game: https://youtu.be/kxo73f1aVWA