Baseball 3/28/2013 8:48:00 PM

OCU overcomes USAO 6-2, 4-3

Stars improve to 7-3 against ranked teams in 2013

Chris Muñoz drove in the winning run in each of OCU's games Thursday.

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University rallied past USAO 6-2 and 4-3 on Thursday at Jim Wade Stadium in a matchup of top 25-ranked teams in NAIA baseball.
Chris Muñoz pounded a solo home run in the fifth inning of the first game to break a 2-2 deadlock, while the Stars overcame a 3-0 deficit in the nightcap. Second-ranked OCU improved to 28-7, 7-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference, while 22nd-ranked USAO went to 27-7, 5-4 in the SAC.
The Stars moved to 7-3 against top-25 competition this season. The two teams meet again in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday in Chickasha, Okla.
“It's going to be a big series,” OCU coach Denney Crabaugh said of his team's series against USAO. “They've got the best team they've had in a long time. They're just a bunch of seniors that will just go scrap with you. We're just going to have to go scrap with them.”
Muñoz, a senior from Hacienda Heights, Calif., launched a first-pitch offering that cleared the right-field wall with two out in the fifth. OCU tacked on three runs in the sixth.
In the sixth, Jonathan Sigado drove in two runs on a base hit to left field. Sigado scored on Jonathan Rodriguez's double-play grounder.
OCU went up 2-0 in the second as Sigado hammered a two-run blast over the left-field wall. The Stars have clouted 34 homers as a team after nailing two Thursday. OCU leads the NAIA with 1.00 home run per game. Sigado had his third homer of the year, while Muñoz hit his sixth.
USAO got Heath Wilda and Brian Vigo RBI singles in the third to tie the game at two runs each.
Sigado, a senior from Salem, Ore., went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in four runs, while Cody Ferrell, a senior from McLoud, Okla., went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases and two runs scored. OCU reached double figures in hits for the 13th time this year.
Derek Howell posted his fourth complete game in nine starts this season in earning the victory to move to 6-1. Howell, a senior right-hander from Krum, Texas, allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out nine.
After OCU turned a double play in the fourth, Howell retired USAO in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
In the second game, OCU erased a 3-1 deficit with a three-run fifth. Ferrell belted an RBI triple to the wall in right-center field to cut the margin to 3-2. Dalton Bernardi had an infield hit to third base to tie the game at three runs apiece. Muñoz nailed the game-winning hit to right field with two out to score Bernardi from second.
Muñoz socked an RBI single to right in the fourth to get OCU its first run of the game. USAO pitcher David Garcia set down the Stars in order through 2.1 innings until Sigado swatted a single between the shortstop and the third baseman.
USAO scored single runs in the first, second and third innings. Vigo's run-scoring double put USAO on top 3-0.
Muñoz went 2-for-3 with a steal and two RBIs, while Ferrell was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Cody Crabaugh picked up the win, moving to 8-1 on the year. Crabaugh, a senior right-hander from Edmond, Okla., fanned six in five innings while allowing two earned runs on seven hits. Patrick Goelz recorded his second save of the year. Goelz, a senior righty from Palm Bay, Fla., struck out five in two innings.

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