EDMOND – Oklahoma Baptist earned another gritty early-season win on Wednesday, winning 5-4 over No. 13 (NCBWA) Central Oklahoma at Wendell Simmons Field. OBU evened its record to 3-3 with the result.
Some more tense, late-inning drama paved the way for the Bison's best win of the season as
Austin Albright and
Will Duncan helped the green and gold to victory. UCO came into the game ranked No. 13 in the National College Baseball Writers Association Top 25 poll.
Before the final couple frames, OBU got ahead of the Bronchos 4-1.
Junior
Alex Schroeder broke a scoreless tie in the first with a two-run single. That came after
Isiah Lissade and
Gabe Irwin had reached base via double and error, respectively.
UCO got a run back in the bottom of the first before the Bison scored again. In the second, Irwin connected with a two-out RBI single to right which plated Albright who had started the inning with a walk. Irwin's hit moved the scoreboard to 3-1.
The Bison tacked on another run in the fourth. Lissade collected his second hit of the night, this one going through the left side. That connection pushed home Albright and boosted OBU's lead to 4-1.
Over the next two innings, the Bronchos rallied. Down 4-2 heading to the sixth, UCO's Jaden Parsons, who had a game-high three hits, put runners on the corners with a single to right. In the next two at-bats, an OBU throwing error and RBI groundout by Matt Baughn tied the game at 4.
Despite that, the Bison didn't flinch and closed the last few frames strong.
Ryan Turbeville (1-2) tossed the seventh and eighth frames and allowed just a hit with two strikeouts.
Then in the ninth, OBU benefitted from a couple UCO miscues. Albright started the frame with a hit-by-pitch before
Brandon Brewer singled. Over the next couple sequences, a balk and wild pitch allowed Albright to score the go-ahead run, his third of the day.
Leading 5-4, Duncan sealed the win for the Bison. He got a groundout to third and added two strikeouts to preserve the victory. For Duncan, it was his first save in a Bison uniform.
Next on the schedule is the GAC opener coming on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. at Arkansas Tech.
