SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist bats were hot again and thanks to a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play, the Bison earned a hard-fought, 14-13 victory against Ouachita on Saturday at Bobby Cox Field.
OBU improved to 25-16 and 14-13 in the Great American Conference and remain in eighth with two conference weekends remaining. Next weekend, the Bison will venture to Henderson State.
Key Leaders
What Went Right
- Offense. For the third time in as many games against the Tigers, the Bison reached 10-plus hits. On Saturday, they connected with 15 and drove in 13.
- Plenty of contributors. There were four different Bison that drove in multiple runs: Lissade, Shields, Joseph and Alex Schroeder. For Lissade, his two-out double in the sixth sparked a four-run inning. There were also run-scoring knocks from Shafer, Shields and Joseph which boosted the Bison lead to 14-10.
- Speaking of Shields, here was his stat line this weekend: .833 batting average, 10 hits, two homers, two doubles, 12 RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.500.
- A crucial defensive play. Actually, there were three big defensive plays in the game. In the third, a wild pitch sent Tallon Heine home, but Schroeder threw back to Nolan Feazle who tagged out Ouachita's baserunner. In the fifth, after a failed pickoff attempt, Joseph Bolin was thrown out at home from Shafer. Finally, OBU closed the game thanks to Jacob Campbell. With the tying run on third, a grounder was picked up by the Bison's shortstop who tossed to Lissade and then watched as the throw to first was in time. That secured the win for the Bison.
What Went Wrong
- Much credit should be given first to Ouachita which came in and delivered offensively. However, by the end of the three games, Bison pitching had allowed the visitors to hit 12 homers and 10 doubles. During Saturday's finale, G. Allen hit three bombs for Ouachita while Dustin Bermudez added two more.
On The Horizon
- The Bison will return to Bobby Cox Field on April 16 at 6 p.m. against East Central.
