STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Feb. 29, 2020) – Tarleton State (Texas) staved off a huge rally by Oklahoma Christian in game one and carried that momentum to a baseball doubleheader sweep on Saturday, beating the Eagles 13-12 and 9-5 at the Cecil Ballow Complex.

Tarleton State (10-7, 10-7 Lone Star Conference) appeared to be cruising in the first of the two seven-inning games, leading 10-3 entering the final inning, but OC (5-12, 5-12) stunned the Texans with a nine-run outburst, sending 14 batters to the plate against three pitchers.

Kevin Collyar had two doubles for the Eagles in the inning, while Blake Empkey also had two hits, the latter a two-run single that put OC ahead. The Eagles led 12-10 entering the bottom of the seventh, but Tarleton State rallied for three runs off OC reliever Robbie Suhr (1-2). Tyler Fowler's RBI single to right field scored Rhett Gallagher with the winning run for the Texans. Fowler had four RBIs in the game.

Luke Baley (4-1) recorded the pitching win for Tarleton State. Austin McCain went 3 for 4 for OC with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Collyar, Empkey and Grant Lake each went 3 for 5.

The Eagles led 4-3 in the second game before the Texans scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off OC starter Ty Dudley (0-1) to go ahead 7-4. OC proved unable to mount a sustained rally against Tarleton State reliever Tyler Thompson (2-0), who allowed only three hits in four innings. The Eagles didn't help their cause by committing six errors.

OC, which won the opener on Friday, will try to earn a split of the four-game series when the final game starts at 1 p.m. Sunday.