Bison Headed Back to World Series Final

MASON, Ohio – Oklahoma Baptist moved into its second consecutive NCCAA World Series championship game with a 9-2 semifinal win over Emmanuel Saturday.
 
After falling behind 1-0 after an unearned run in the first inning, the Bison tied the game in the second with some crafty base-running. Nick Burnham doubled to left and moved to third on a throwing error. With two outs, Joseph Moran got himself in a rundown between first and second and stayed active long enough for Burnham to speed home and score from third.
 
Burnham took a little more time in scoring the bottom of the fourth, when he launched his third home run of the World Series after Hunter Heath had doubled, giving OBU a 3-1 lead. Kevin Olmeda would add an RBI single and Zane Gelphman doubled Olmeda home for a 5-1 lead.
 
Burnham walked with two outs in the fifth, moved to second on a base hit by Moran and scored on a single by Dustyn Cook. Moran scored on an error for a 7-1 Bison lead.
 
Cook added another RBI single in the seventh for an 8-2 lead.
 
Hunter Heath singled home the ninth Bison run in the eighth inning.
 
OBU had 15 hits in the game, led by Heath with three, while Olmeda, Gelphman, Juan Gonzalez, Burnham, Moran and Cook had two each.
 
Carson McPherson picked up the win, allowing one unearned run on four hits while fanning three in 5.1 innings. Tyler Gibson allowed one run in 2.2 innings, striking out two batters. A.J. Merkel struck out two in a spotless ninth inning.
 
The Bison play in the championship at 4 p.m., Central, against the winner of the Campbellsville-Southwestern Christian game – two teams OBU has beaten in this postseason. OBU beat Campbellsville 10-6 in pool play Friday and beat SCU 8-4 in the Central Region finals.
 
OBU is 3-1 all-time against Campbellsville and 9-1 against Southwestern Christian.
 
Jinny Parra, OBU's all-time leader in wins, will get the start on the mound for the Bison in the championship game.
 
The Bison are hitting .413 and slugging .680 with a .493 on-base percentage in the World Series. Juan Gonzalez has a team-best nine hits and is batting .643 while Nick Burnham is hitting .600 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
 
OBU is 5-0 with a 2.31 earned run average for the week.