SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist won all three Great American Conference games against East Central this weekend. The Bison were victorious by 10-1, 14-4 and 10-8 tallies to improve to 14-6 and 8-4 in the league.
With those results, OBU moved into a tie for second place in the league standings and one back of first-place Harding. Below you'll find highlights from all three games versus ECU.
GAME ONE (March 7)
David Stuart tossed 6.0 frames, allowed just one run and got a combined 11 ground-ball and fly-ball outs. Plus, reliever
Javarian Roquemore was sensational, striking out four with no hits allowed in two innings of work.
Offensively, OBU took it to ECU early, scoring seven in the first trio of innings.
Spencer Dickinson and
Lucas Schaefer each secured two-run singles while
Matt Marsic added an RBI double in the third which plated
Braden Smith.
Schaefer and Dickinson ended up with three RBI each.
GAME TWO (March 9)
The Bison offense cranked out 14 runs on 17 hits during the big victory. Eight of the 10 batters that had a plate appearance earned hits as Dickinson led the team with four knocks. Plus, Schaefer and
Jayden Shafer both collected a trio of hits while Shafer, OBU's first baseman, drove in three.
After ECU gained a 1-0 lead early, the hosts responded with a five spot in the home half of the first.
Keenan Morris and Marsic drew bases-loaded walks while Shafer drove in a pair with a hit to right field.
Also of note,
Zane Bennett had a solo homer to left in the fourth frame which made the tally 9-2. And then in the eighth, designated hitter
DJ Van Atten smacked a game-ending, bases-clearing double to left center.
On the mound,
Ryan Turbeville got his second win by tossing 5.0 frames, striking out eight and allowing two earned runs.
William Ellis gave a strong appearance in relief by allowing just two hits with six strikeouts.
GAME THREE
OBU had virtually total control throughout the game until the end when
Logan Kimbro entered and earned his third save of the season.
Well before that, the green and gold scored the game's first seven runs. Three of those came in the third before four more in the fourth. In that frame, Morris smoked a liner down the right-field line which stayed fair and plated Dickinson.
And then a two-run throwing error by ECU allowed Shafer and Smith to score. At that point, it was 7-0.
Things got very interesting in the seventh. OBU led 10-5, however, the Tigers wound up with three runs, and had bases loaded with two away when Kimbro, a senior, entered. The lefty secured his third save and the team victory when he struck out Zac Carroll.
Next on the schedule for OBU is a road date with Northeastern State on March 11 at 5 p.m.
