Fort Smith, Arkansas - Oklahoma Christian visited the Lions of Arkansas Smith over Super Bowl weekend and is headed back to Oklahoma City with a series win.
Game 1 Recap
The Eagles started game one with a bang as
Blake Empkey put OC on top with a solo shot to right-center in the top of the first inning.
Naut Kragt, in his second career start, continued his impressive start to the season by racking up three of his nine strikeouts over the first three innings, and Kragt didn't allow a hit in that span.
In the top of the fourth, the Eagles scored the winning run when
Grant Lake struck out, but the ball got away from the catcher, allowing Lake to reach base and
Marcus Johnson to score from third.
Kragt had the no-hitter going until a triple in the bottom of the 6th in the seven-inning game. Fort Smith capitalized on the triple, with a sac fly scoring the runner on the next at-bat, but Kragt would shut the Lions down the rest of the way.
Kragt finished with a line of 9 strikeouts, 3 hits, and 1 earned run in another complete game to open his season.
Game 2 Recap
The Eagles took the lead in the first inning again. This time
Michael DiFiore plated the first run on an RBI single, scoring
Connor Jackson. And OC scored two more runs in the inning on a UAFS error that allowed
Preston King and DiFiore to score, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
OC expanded its lead in the 2nd, with
Coleton Hinkle hitting a solo shot to left field, his first of the season, to give OC a 4-0 advantage.
Over the next three innings, the Lions would score and eventually tie the game in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI single.
Hinkle responded in the top of the 6th with a 2 RBI double, bringing home
Hank Heiselbetz and
Grant Lake, who each singled to start the inning. Another UAFS error allowed Hinkle to score, giving the Eagles a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th.
Oklahoma Christian held that lead until the bottom of the 8th when, after getting a couple of runners on base, back-to-back RBI singles tied the game at 7-7.
The Eagles didn't get anything going in the top of the 9th, and in the bottom half, they were able to get out of a jam with runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs, striking out the UAFS batter to end the threat.
The Eagles went down in order in the top of the 10th, and in the bottom half, UAFS loaded the bases and scored on a wild pitch to win game two.
Game 3 Recap
All you need to know about game three is that the 4th inning happened, and the Eagles used the monster 13-run inning to win the game 14-4.
How they scored in the 4th
And in the 5th inning,
Ethan Box hit a solo shot to give Oklahoma Christian a 14-0 lead.
UAFS' runs came on two home runs, one in the 5th and one in the 6th, but that was their only offense in the game.
Nathan Kwan picked up the win for OC, striking out 7 Lions over 5.2 innings.
Game 4 Recap
In game 4, UAFS struck first, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double and a couple of OC errors.
Hank Heiselbetz responded to the Lions' runs with an RBI single to right-center, scoring
Marcus Johnson to bring some momentum back to OC.
The pitchers settled in for the next three innings, but the Eagles erupted in the 5th.
Blake Empkey, who was also the starting pitcher, got himself off the hook with a 2 RBI double that scored
Preston King and
Connor Jackson.
Michael DiFiore brought Empkey home with an RBI single, and he scored when Heiselbetz reached on a UAFS error.
Justin Spencer capped the big inning for the Eagles with a 2 RBI double that plated
Coleton Hinkle and DiFiore. The 6-run top of the 5th gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead that they wouldn't surrender.
And in the top of the 9th, DiFiore hit his second home run of the season to seal the 3-1 series win.
Up Next
The Eagles will have a bye week before returning home to Dobson Field for a series against St. Mary's next weekend. T
