OKLAHOMA CITY (March 26, 2021) – Baseball can be a funny game. One game you can find yourself on the wrong side of a 20-run loss, and 10 days later, you can find yourself on the right side of such a verdict.

Oklahoma Christian – which suffered such a defeat at Central Oklahoma on March 16 – flipped the script on Friday against Eastern New Mexico, rolling to a record-setting 27-7 win before finishing off a doubleheader sweep with a 6-4 win at Dobson Field.

OC (10-9, 9-8 Lone Star Conference) pounded out eight home runs in the doubleheader, three of those by freshman slugger Michael DiFiore, along with 35 hits – 19 of those for extra bases. The 27 runs the Eagles scored in the opener were the most by OC in the program's NCAA Division II era and the second-most ever, trailing only a 30-2 win over Hillsdale Baptist (now Randall) in 1989.

"We really swung the bats well in the first game," OC coach Lonny Cobble said. "I was pleased with the way we came out and swung, but I was disappointed that we didn't hit the ball as well the second game."

In the opener, the Eagles had 25 hits off four Eastern New Mexico pitchers and scored in all six of their innings. OC had six runs in the first inning, five in the second, six more in the fourth and eight in the fifth.

OC's 25 hits, seven homers and 26 RBIs were the most by a LSC team in a game this season.

DiFiore hit a two-run homer in the first and another in the fourth. In his first collegiate at-bat, Jake LaMar hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Tanner White, Coleton Hinkle, Grant Lake and Ryan Walden all also homered, with Walden's shot a grand slam in the fifth.

Kevin Collyar and Hinkle each had four hits while DiFiore, Chance Westervelt and Lake had three each. DiFiore, Lake and Walden each drove in four runs.

Meanwhile, OC senior ace Gabe Rodery (5-0) struck out nine batters in six innings, striking out the side in both the first and second innings and not allowing a hit until the fourth inning. The Greyhounds' starter, James Romero (1-2), took the loss.

Eastern New Mexico (5-15, 4-14) is playing all of its games on the road this season, due to New Mexico state regulations regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. To their credit, the Greyhounds bounced back and competed hard in the second game, thanks in good part to starting pitcher Josh Lewis, who retired 13 straight batters in one stretch.

But after he gave up a sharp single to OC's Blake Empkey to open the eighth inning, Lewis exited with a 4-3 lead. On the first pitch by reliever Cooper Hamilton (1-2), DiFiore homered over the left-field wall to put the Eagles ahead.

DiFiore "is on fire right now," Cobble said. "He's hitting the ball really well."

Noah Bates (1-2), who pitched the final four innings in relief for the Eagles, held the lead. Bates allowed only three hits and struck out six.

Nicholas Tamez drove in all of the Greyhounds' runs, two on a fourth-inning homer and two on a fifth-inning double.

The teams will complete their three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m.