SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist baseball team took game one over Southern Arkansas, 7-2, before falling in the nightcap, 6-3, on Sunday at Bobby Cox Field.
Tomorrow, the two squads will meet at noon for the series finales.
GAME ONE – OBU scored seven unanswered runs to take the first conference game of the season.
After five scoreless frames, SAU (3-5) struck first in the top of the sixth. Christian Gutierrez delivered a two-run single up the middle, plating Wyatt Fielding and Michael Herndon for a 2-0 lead.
The Bison (3-3) responded immediately in the bottom half.
Kaleb Latimer and
Quinn Johnson set the table before Tua Amosa who lined a two-run single to right to tie the game. Later in the inning,
Keenan Morris drew a bases-loaded walk to give OBU its first lead at 3-2.
Matt Marsic extended the advantage in the seventh with a solo home run to right field. The Bison then put the game away in the eighth, capitalizing on an error and stringing together three RBI singles from Brayden Smith, Latimer, and Johnson to stretch the lead to 7-2.
Kody Bialas (1-1) earned the win, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings while striking out five.
Logan Wade picked up his first save, tossing three innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts. Southern Arkansas starter Carter Gaston (0-2) took the loss.
OBU finished with 10 hits, led by two apiece from Johnson, Morris, Smith, and Marsic.
GAME TWO – SAU used timely hitting and took advantage of defensive miscues to defeat Oklahoma Baptist, 6-3, in game two.
The Muleriders (4-5) scored six runs on just four hits, capitalizing on three OBU errors and seven walks. OBU (3-4) outhit Southern Arkansas 8-4 but left six runners on base.
SAU struck first in the opening inning when Preston Smith tripled to left center and later scored on a wild pitch. The Bison answered in the bottom half, taking a 2-1 lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by Amosa and a run-scoring single from
Zane Bennett.
The Muleriders regained control in the second. Tate Elliott reached on a fielder's choice and eventually scored on a passed ball, while another unearned run crossed on a throwing error to make it 3-2. Fielding extended the lead in the fifth with a solo homer.
OBU trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth when Bennett delivered an RBI single, scoring Johnson. However, SAU added insurance in the sixth on Jacob Lang's RBI double and tacked on another unearned run in the seventh.
Nate June (2-0) earned the win, allowing three runs—just one earned—over 4.2 innings with six strikeouts. Wes Cunningham recorded the final seven outs for his second save while Bison pitcher
Marcus Peters (0-1) took the loss for the Bison.
