MASON, Ohio –
Kevin Olmeda took matters into his own hands – and got a hand in ahead of a tag - and Oklahoma Baptist celebrated its second walk-off NCCAA World Series championship in as many seasons with 7-6 10
th-inning victory over Campbellsville.
Josh Timms lifted a one-out fly ball to left-center and Olmeda's nifty slide completed the game-winning sacrifice fly and a rally that saw the Bison trailing 6-2 after five innings.
"The outfielder was about 15 feet from the cut, Kevin tags and Chris (Assistant Coach Cox) was holding Kevin and he just took off," said Bison Head Coach
Bobby Cox. "I think it took everyone by surprise. I think the outfielder rushed his throw and Kevin reached in and got a hand in ahead of the tag. It was unreal. He just took off on his own. That kind of sums up his time here."
It was the second consecutive walk-off national championship for the Bison, who won last year's World Series on a
Hunter Heath grand slam.
The Tigers scored the first two runs of the game in the second inning but
Joseph Moran doubled and later scored on a double-play grounder by
Brett Berghammer to make it 2-1.
Campbellsville went ahead 3-1 in the fourth, but
Nick Burnham was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 3-2 in the home half of the fourth.
Jinny Parra gave way to
Tyler Gibson in the fifth and the Tigers got a three-run home run by Brett Hamilton for a 6-2 lead. Parra had worked out of a first-inning jam with two strikeouts to sandwich a
Juan Gonzalez throw to catch a base-stealer. Gonzalez, who earned the Most Outstanding Player Award, threw out all three would-be base stealers in the tournament.
"Juan was just amazing," Cox said. "He had the offensive numbers but he also just shut down the running game and called a great tournament behind the plate. He caught six games."
From the fifth inning, Gibson was lights out. He got the next 10 batters out and surrendered just two more hits to set the Bison up for the win. He finished with four strikeouts in six innings of relief, throwing 68 pitches.
"A lot of guys would have folded the tents after that home run, but he locked it down," Cox said. "All of our pitchers stepped up this week. When you talk about running the table in that short of time – all of those guys stood up when their numbers were called."
The Bison narrowed the gap to 6-4 with a two-out rally in the sixth. Burnham and Moran singled with two outs.
Dustyn Cook then singled home Burnham and
Brett Berghammer produced an RBI single.
Burnham got his 14
th RBI of the World Series with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, driving in
Zane Gelphman. Burnham was named to the All-Tournament Team.
"Nick and Joe Moran just really had great tournaments," Cox said. "Zane did too. All of those guys hit the ball so well. All of them could have been All-Tournament.
Dustyn Cook played as good a shortstop as you could have asked for."
Juan Gonzalez drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game in the eighth inning.
Campbellsville got a one-out double in the top of the 10
th, but Olmeda fielded a ball deflected by Gibson for the second out and then ran down a fly ball on the right field line to end the threat.
"That catch in the outfield by Kevin was one of the best catches I've seen by a second baseman," Cox said. "That pretty much saved the game."
With one out in the 10
th, Olmeda singled to right and moved to second on a ground ball single through the right side by Gelphman. Both runners advanced a base on a passed ball before Timms came through on an 0-2 pitch for the game-winner.
OBU had 11 hits in the game, including two each by Berghammer and Moran. Every Bison starting position player had a hit in the game.
For the Series, OBU batted .385 with a 2.94 earned run average. The Bison hit nine home runs and scored 73 runs in six games.
Ending their careers as National Champions are seniors Heath, Moran, Cook,
Kyle Abblitt, Olmeda,
Blake Whitehead, Gibson,
Carson McPherson,
Brad Adams and Parra.
