SHAWNEE -- Oklahoma Baptist edged out Northeastern State in a 6-5 extra-inning victory at Bobby Cox Field on Tuesday. A sacrifice fly from
DJ Van Atten in the bottom of the 10th brought home the winning run, capping off a back-and-forth affair between the two teams.
The Bison (18-11) got on the board in the third when
Spencer Dickinson's sacrifice fly plated a run. Northeastern State (10-17) responded quickly, scoring twice in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead after an error and a fielder's choice RBI.
It didn't take OBU long to respond. In fact, an inning later in the fifth, Dickinson added another sacrifice fly before
Zane Bennett singled home Van Atten.
The topsy-turvy contest took another turn in the seventh when NSU's Diego Murillo stole home to put the visitors up 4-3. But the momentum swung in the bottom half of the inning when Bennett launched a two-run homer to left, giving Oklahoma Baptist a 5-4 advantage.
In the eighth, the RiverHawks tied the game at 5-5 when Xavier Sanchez stole third and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Mason Ruiz. Both teams remained locked in a stalemate until the 10th, when Oklahoma Baptist mounted its game-winning rally.
Jesse Tisdell led off the inning with a single and eventually got to third after an error at short and single from
Keenan Morris. Van Atten then lifted a fly ball deep enough to right field to score Tisdell for the walk-off victory.
Javarian Roquemore (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief. Ashton Durham (0-1) took the loss after surrendering the unearned run in the 10th.
OBU's pitching staff was also aided by
Logan Kimbro and
Nick Meyer who didn't allow any runs either.
Bennett powered the Bison offense with three RBI, while Morris went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Murillo and Ruiz each drove in a run for Northeastern State.
On March 28, OBU returns to action with a Great American Conference home game with Southeastern Oklahoma State at 6 p.m.
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