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Coleton Hinkle at Texas-Permian Basin C -- 4-11-21
Coleton Hinkle swings during Sunday's win against Texas-Permian Basin. He hit a bases-loaded triple during an eight-run ninth inning.
17
Winner Oklahoma Christian OC 17-10
11
Tex. Permian Basin UTPB 11-15
Winner
Oklahoma Christian OC
17-10
17
Final
11
Tex. Permian Basin UTPB
11-15
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oklahoma Christian OC 4 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 8 17 18 2
Tex. Permian Basin UTPB 1 2 1 1 0 3 0 1 2 11 17 4

W: Bates, Noah (2-2) L: Austin Parks (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Huge 9th inning lifts Eagles to series win at UTPB

MIDLAND, Texas (April 11, 2021) – With one final big inning on Sunday afternoon, Oklahoma Christian finished off both a game and a series win against Texas-Permian Basin.

Ten straight Eagles reached base during an eight-run ninth-inning outburst, enough to lift OC to a 17-11 win over UTPB at Momentum Bank Park, the home field of the Double-A Midland RockHounds. Four OC players – Blake Empkey, Coleton Hinkle, Grant Lake and Cole Lee – had three hits and five drove in at least two runs, with Hinkle's four RBIs leading the way.

With a third straight series win, OC (17-10, 15-9 Lone Star Conference) moved back into fourth place in the league standings, percentage points ahead of Texas A&M-Kingsville (14-8, 13-8). The top four teams in the final regular-season standings will host first-round series in the LSC tournament.

OC jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning against UTPB (11-15, 8-13), but the Falcons rallied to go up 5-4 after four innings. The Eagles went back up 8-5 before UTPB tied the game with a three-run sixth. A third time, OC took the lead, going up 9-8 on a sacrifice fly by Empkey in the seventh. A third time, UTPB rallied and tied the game in the eighth.

Jaren Hill led off the ninth for OC with a popup against UTPB reliever Austin Parks (0-1), the first of four pitchers used by the Falcons in the inning. Cole Lee then singled to center field and the floodgates opened. Kevin Collyar singled through the left side of the infield. Empkey, Michael DiFiore and Chance Westervelt followed with RBI singles to make it 12-9 and Tanner White walked before Hinkle's bases-loaded triple.

Grant Lake's double to left-center field scored Hinkle and Lake scored on a single by Hill, making it 17-9. Lee singled for the second time in the inning before the Falcons retired Collyar and Empkey to end the outburst. (Empkey did finish 3 for 4 and was just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.) All told, OC had half of its 18 hits in the inning.

The Falcons scored twice in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't make up any more of the deficit against OC reliever Noah Bates (2-2), who pitched the final 3 1/3 innings and struck out five batters.

Jay Desoto went 5 for 6 for UTPB, including a home run.

OC will host local rival Southern Nazarene on Tuesday in a nonconference game before a three-game home series No. 25-ranked Texas-Tyler – currently the LSC's third-place team – that will start Friday.
 
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