Lubbock, Texas - Led by Michael DiFiore, the Eagles scored in five consecutive innings to put up twelve runs in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader against Lubbock Christian.
 
Game 1: OC 12, LCU 3
 
Naut Kragt pitched his third complete game of the season and set the tone early after working around back-to-back two-out LCU singles in the bottom of the first.
 
The Eagles' offense got going in the second inning, scoring three runs on four hits. Back-to-back-to-back singles started the inning, with Michael DiFiore, Chance Westervelt, and Coleton Hinkle all reaching base on those singles. Grant Lake got the first run on the board following his three-hit performance yesterday, with a fielder's choice RBI.
 
The Chaps cut off the runner heading to second on the fielder's choice, but Jaren Hill, stop us if you've heard this before, dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Lake into scoring position. Connor Jackson stepped up with Westervelt on third and Lake on second and delivered a 2 RBI single to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
 
Kragt got the lead-off batter out on a groundout, but the Chaps reached base and scored on a double, and an RBI single. Kragt locked back in and forced back-to-back grounds out to hold the lead at 3-1.
 
Oklahoma Christian put up another three-run frame in the third inning with three more singles putting runners in scoring position. Blake Empkey and Marcus Johnson lead off the inning with singles, and DiFiore drove them home with a 2 RBI triple. Westervelt followed that triple up by bringing DiFiore home on an RBI single, extending OC's lead to 6-1.
 
LCU picked up a run on an error in the bottom of the third, to cut the Eagles' lead to 6-2.
 
Jaren Hill got the 4th inning started with a single and was moved into scoring position with a sac bunt from Jackson. Empkey walked, advanced to second and third on a throwing error by the LCU pitcher, and Hill came in to score. Empkey scored during the next at-bat on an error that allowed Johnson to reach base. Johnson stole second base after reaching on the error, but Empkey's run was the final for OC in the inning.
 
A lead-off single looked to spark things for LCU in the bottom of the 4th, but Kragt forced a grounder, and his defense picked him up turning two. And a flyout ended the inning with Kragt facing the minimum in the 4th.
 
Lake continued his hot weekend at the plate with a double that moved Hinkle to third base after he reached base on an error, and Hill brought Hinkle home with an RBI sacrifice bunt. The LCU errors continued, this time allowing Lake to score on a wild pitch with two outs.
 
OC took a 12-2 lead into the 6th and added two more runs on a DiFiore RBI double, and a Hinkle sacrifice fly RBI.
 
LCU loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th, but only plated one run, giving OC the 12-3 victory to open the doubleheader.
 
Game 2: LCU 4, OC 3
 
Game two was a tale of two innings that went the way of the Chaparrals in the end.
 
The Lubbock Christian big inning came in the bottom of the third inning and saw them score four runs on two RBI doubles, and an RBI infield single. All four runs for LCU came across with two outs, and both doubles snuck their way onto the left-field line.
 
Oklahoma Christian's offensive inning came in the top of the fifth inning when Grant Lake led it off with a ground-rule double. Lake advanced to third on a Jaren Hill groundout, and Hank Heiselbetz drove Lake in with an RBI single to get the Eagles on the board.
 
Blake Emkpey brought Heiselbetz home, sending his team-leading 4th home run of the season over the left-center field wall. Empkey also leads the team in RBIs, bringing his total to 13 on the season with the home run.
 
Marcus Johnson kept the momentum going with a two-out triple, but a groundout ended the inning with LCU ahead, 4-3.
 
The 4-3 lead would go on to be the difference between the teams and give a cause a split of the Saturday afternoon doubleheader.
 
Up Next
 
Oklahoma Christian will look to split the series tomorrow with the first pitch of the series finale scheduled for 1 p.m.