WEATHERFORD – Oklahoma Baptist (21-15, 13-11 GAC) earned a key three-game sweep of Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Bison won the doubleheader by 23-4 and 10-9 scores and moved from eighth in the GAC standings to sixth. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tourney set to start in four weeks.
GAME ONE
Dan Pruitt was 5-for-5 with a home run and six driven in as the Bison secured 17 total hits, five extra-base knocks and 19 RBI. On the mound,
Ryan Turbeville was very good tossing a complete game with four runs allowed and 12 ground-ball outs.
Alex Schroeder set the tone early with a first-pitch swinging, three-run shot in the first. SWOSU came back with a run in its half-inning of work before the Bison reeled off 15 straight runs.
In the fourth, Pruitt and
Isiah Lissade notched RBI singles while
Austin Gonzales drove in another with a triple. Heading to the fifth, it was 7-1 OBU.
During fifth-inning action, Gonzales drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk before an error allowed him,
Troy Shields and Schroeder to score. That miscue boosted OBU's lead to 11-1. Pruitt then capped off the inning with another RBI single.
A frame later, Pruitt highlighted that six-run inning with a three-run homer to left. That shot, Pruitt's 14th of the year, made moved the scoreboard to 18-1.
OBU's big offensive day concluded with a Lissade two-run, two-bagger in the seventh. That hit to left-center bumped the Bison's advantage to 20-2.
GAME TWO
The green and gold were cruising until a six-run fifth inning helped SWOSU tie the game at 9.
After that, Shields provided OBU's go-ahead homer in the seventh to help the team prevail.
Long before that, the Bison attained a 9-3 lead after three frames. Pruitt had a solo shot in the first and
Jayden Shafer and Gonzales drove in three during the second. Those hits had OBU leading 6-0.
A frame later, SWOSU had a couple miscues. Its first, a throwing error by its second basesman, scored two, Gonzales followed with a run after a wild pitch. At that point, the Bison led by six, 9-3.
That score remained until the bottom of the fifth. In that frame, Southwestern scored six times, all with two out. Griffin Larsen started the rally with a two-run single to left. Geoff Marlow capped things off with an RBI double to center which plated teammate Caleb Clines.
By the end of the fifth, SWOSU had notched five hits to aid in its comeback.
Despite the host Bulldogs rallying, the Bison kept their cool and eventually won.
Jordan Brewer closed the last 2.1 innings and struck out three and also induced a pair of ground-outs and fly-ball outs. Offensively, Shields took an 0-1 pitch to left-center in the seventh for the eventual game-winning hit. That was his sixth bomb of the year.
The Bison will return to the diamond next weekend with another trip, this one to Ouachita. That series starts April 14 at noon.
