Baseball 5/10/2012 10:23:00 PM

OCU steamrolls Mount Marty 12-3

Third-ranked Stars meet Sterling at 2:30 p.m. Friday

Kale Gaden hit two home runs and a double while bringing home four runs Thursday.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University buried Mount Marty (S.D.) 12-3 behind five home runs Thursday at Jim Wade Stadium in the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round Oklahoma City Bracket.
Kale Gaden hammered two homers, while Miguel Beltran pounded his nation-high 25th homer for OCU. The third-ranked Stars improved to 44-9.
OCU meets Sterling (Kan.) at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Jim Wade Stadium. Other matchups Friday at Jim Wade Stadium will be Lubbock Christian (Texas) vs. York (Neb.) at 11 a.m. and the winner of the 11 a.m. game vs. Mount Marty at 6 p.m.
The Stars piled up five runs in the fourth inning to build a 10-0 advantage. OCU had five extra-base hits in a row including three homers.
Beltran cranked a 1-0 offering over the right-center field wall following Chad Carman's double. Gaden belted a two-run shot to right after Dane Phillips doubled to left. Jonathan Sigado made it back-to-back homers with a solo blast to left.
In the third, Rich Hawkins socked a sacrifice fly to center after Sigado walked to load the bases. Cody Ferrell knocked in two runs on a single through the middle of the infield.
OCU jumped ahead as Chris Muñoz nailed his 11th homer of the year leading off the bottom of the first. Phillips drove in another run on a single to right. OCU's first four batters reached base.
Gaden tacked on a two-run shot to right for the final margin in the game in the eighth. Gaden has 11 homers for the Stars.
Blake Schwartz benefited from OCU's offensive onslaught to earn the win. Schwartz, a senior right-hander from Rosemount, Minn., struck out seven, walked two and allowed one hit in seven innings.
Schwartz (10-3) allowed Derrik Nelson's infield hit with two out in the first before striking out the side in the inning. Schwartz finished his outing by retiring eight out of nine batters and seven in a row from the fifth to the seventh. Jerod Peper and Kyle Lacy finished the game pitching for the Stars.
Gaden, a junior from Stillwater, Okla., went 3-for-5, scored three times, drove in four and added a double. Beltran, a senior from Long Beach, Calif., went 2-for-4, scored twice and knocked in two runs, while Phillips, a junior from Nacogdoches, Texas, went 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and his NAIA-high 26th double.
Sigado, a junior from Salem, Ore., went 2-for-4, scored twice and drove in a run, while Ferrell, a junior from McLoud, Okla., went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Muñoz, a junior from Hacienda Heights, Calif., went 2-for-5 with a double, run scored and an RBI, and Carman, a senior from Midwest City, Okla., was 2-for-5 with a double.
OCU banged out 16 hits and had 15 or more hits for the 16th time this season.
Boxscore

NAIA Championship Opening Round
Oklahoma City Bracket
At Jim Wade Stadium
Thursday's Results
Game 1: Mount Marty (S.D.) 8, York (Neb.) 7
Game 2: Sterling (Kan.) 9, Lubbock Christian (Texas) 8
Game 3: Oklahoma City 12, Mount Marty 3
Friday's Games
Game 4: Lubbock Christian vs. York, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Sterling at Oklahoma City, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Mount Marty, 6 p.m.
Saturday's Games
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 2:30 p.m., championship
Sunday's Game or Monday's Game
Game 9: If necessary, 1 p.m. or noon

NOTE: If-necessary game could be played 1 p.m. Sunday or noon Monday based on coaches' agreement.

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