Bison Shut Down MACU, 12-0

SHAWNEE – Three Oklahoma Baptist pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout and Dustyn Cook drove in four runs from the nine-hole as the Bison beat Mid-America Christian Tuesday, 12-0.
 
AJ Merkel (2-1) extended his hitless innings streak to 10 before allowing a leadoff single in the top of the sixth. He finished the sixth with two hits allowed and six strikeouts against no walks.
 
Jace Wilkins pitched two hitless frames with two strikeouts and Brad Adams tossed a scoreless ninth inning to finish the game.
 
The Bison scored twice to break scoreless tie in the third on a two-run single by Zane Gelphman.
 
OBU tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI ground ball by Nick Burnham and RBI singles by Joe Moran and Cook.
 
Three more Bison scored in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Austin Whittaker and a two-run single by Cook.
 
OBU scored four runs in the eighth without a hit, using a sacrifice fly by Landon Harper, two run-scoring wild pitches and a bases-loaded walk by Cook.
 
The Bison had eight hits for the game, led by Cook with three singles and Josh Timms with a double and a single.
 
Now 12-9 on the season, the Bison host Harding in a three-game set this weekend. The Great American Conference series begins with a single game at 2 p.m., Friday, followed by a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.