OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University smashed the team NAIA single-season home run record by crushing seven homers Thursday night at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars, ranked second in NAIA baseball, increased their homer total to 149, topping the record 147 OCU smacked last year. OCU improved to 47-7, 23-6, while No. 17 SNU dropped to 37-12, 19-10.
OCU has the four highest single-season homer totals in NAIA history. OCU also hit 141 homers in 1988 and 1999 to set and tie previous national marks.
Landon Camp, Jason Machado and Brent Weaver each pounded a pair of homers, and Brandon Moss pitched in one. Weaver upped his season total to 34.
OCU finishes off the regular season against Southern Nazarene at 3 p.m. in Bethany, Okla. Then comes the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament next week and the NAIA Championship Opening-Round Tournament on May 12-15 at Jim Wade Stadium.
“It's been an amazing year,” OCU coach Denney Crabaugh said. “I knew we would hit some, but I've been surprised by how many we've hit so far.”
Weaver, a senior from Midwest City, Okla., nailed a solo shot to left leading off the fifth inning to tie the record. Machado, a senior from Frisco, Texas, got around on a down-and-away, 1-0 fastball and launched the record-breaking homer to right.
“I accomplished what I meant to do, and that was go opposite field,” Machado said. “It just so happened it set the record.”
Weaver swatted his 33rd of the year and first of the game in the first inning to get OCU on the board. Camp, a senior from Edmond, Okla., clouted a two-run blast to erase Southern Nazarene's two-run lead. SNU had taken a 2-0 first-inning lead on Nick Spear's two-run blast.
Machado cranked a two-run shot over the right-center gap in the fourth. Moss added a solo shot in the fifth to put OCU up 9-2.
Camp led off the seventh with his second homer of the game and 64th of his career. Moss drove in another run on a base hit to left-center.
Chad Carman finished off the win with a two-out, RBI double down the left-field foul line in the eighth.
Ashur Tolliver notched the win, moving to 10-1. Tolliver, a junior left-hander from Sherwood, Ark., pitched 7.2 innings, struck out seven and allowed two runs on six hits. Tristan Bugenis had the other out in the game.
Machado went 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in four runs, and Camp went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Moss went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Weaver was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
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