Baseball 5/2/2012 9:35:00 PM

OCU opens pool play in SAC Tournament with 8-1 win over SNU

Stars takes on Northwestern at 6 p.m. Thursday

Kale Gaden posted three hits with a double and two RBIs on Wednesday.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University pummeled Southern Nazarene 8-1 on Wednesday at Jim Wade Stadium in the Sooner Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
Brian Fisher pounded a home run, while Ryan Gibson held Southern Nazarene to four hits in eight innings for OCU. The Stars, ranked second in the NAIA, improved to 42-8 on the year.
The Stars continue pool play in the SAC Tournament with a 6 p.m. contest Thursday vs. Northwestern Oklahoma State at Jim Wade Stadium. No. 24 Lubbock Christian (Texas) meets Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m. Thursday also at Jim Wade Stadium.
OCU pounded out 16 hits to pad its nationally-ranked hitting numbers. The Stars entered Wednesday ranked fifth in hits per game and 10th in hits in the NAIA – OCU has posted 11.5 hits a game and 575 hits this year.
Fisher, a senior from Spring, Texas, belted his sixth homer of the year over the left-field wall leading off the second inning to put OCU ahead 2-0. The Stars lead the NAIA at 79 homers and 1.58 per game.
Kale Gaden, a junior from Stillwater, Okla., went 3-for-5 with a double, run scored and two runs driven in for OCU. Fisher went 2-for-4, scored twice, doubled and knocked in two runs, and Jonathan Sigado, a junior from Salem, Ore., went 2-for-4 with a run scored, double and two RBIs.
Miguel Beltran, Brayden Brumley and Chad Carman nailed two hits each for the Stars.
Gibson maintained a shutout on one hit through five innings. Ryan McIntosh's RBI single in the sixth accounted for SNU's only run.
A junior left-hander from Yukon, Okla., Gibson struck out 12 in eight innings and logged 117 pitches, all season highs. Allen Townsend pitched the ninth for the Stars.
OCU took advantage of three consecutive walks in the first inning to score its initial run. Dane Phillips got aboard on an intentional walk, then Cody Ferrell walked to load the bases. Sigado cashed in by drawing a walk.
Gaden's RBI double gave OCU a 3-0 fifth-inning lead. Sigado drove in two runs by socking a double down the left-field foul line, then Gaden brought Sigado home on a base hit.
The Stars tacked on two more runs with Fisher's run-scoring double and Rich Hawkins' pinch-hit RBI single.
Boxscore

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament
At Oklahoma City
Jim Wade Stadium
Wednesday's Results
Lubbock Christian 15, Northwestern Oklahoma State 2
Oklahoma City 8, Southern Nazarene 1
Thursday's Games
Lubbock Christian vs. Southern Nazarene, 2 p.m.
Northwestern at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m.
Friday's Games
Northwestern vs. Southern Nazarene, 2 p.m.
Lubbock Christian at Oklahoma City, 6 p.m.
At Shawnee, Okla.
Bison Field at Ford Park
Wednesday's Results
USAO 4, Rogers State 3
Oklahoma Baptist 8, St. Gregory's 4
Thursday's Games
Rogers State vs. St. Gregory's, 2 p.m.
USAO at Oklahoma Baptist, 6 p.m.
Friday's Games
St. Gregory's vs. USAO, 2 p.m.
Rogers State at Oklahoma Baptist, 6 p.m.
Saturday's Game
Championship
At Shawnee, Okla.
Bison Field at Ford Park
Pool play winners, 1 p.m.

Print Friendly Version