OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University pushed across a run in the ninth inning to defeat Hastings (Neb.) 9-8 on Wednesday afternoon at Jim Wade Stadium.

David Grellner scored on a throwing error by the Hastings third baseman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning for the winning run for the Stars (20-6). OCU rallied from an 8-5 deficit after five innings of play.

Brad Riddle came on in the ninth inning for OCU and shut down Hastings to pick up his second victory of the year. Phillip Stewart, a sophomore from Blue Springs, Mo., pitched 4.1 solid innings in relief. Stewart gave up no runs on two hits and struck out three batters to give OCU a chance for the comeback.
OCU scored twice in the eighth inning to tie the game at 8-8. Matt Presley drove in both runs with a triple to the right-center gap. Presley, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colo., leads the team with 39 RBIs on the season.

The Stars tallied single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to cut into the lead at 8-6. Garrett Regan, a senior from Calgary, Alberta, drilled his second home run of the season to right-field in the fifth inning, and Steve Vitale, a senior from East Meadow, N.Y., knocked out a solo shot in the sixth inning to pull to within two runs.

Kirk Walker, a junior from Bakersfield, Calif., and Vitale were each 3-for-5 for OCU. Walker scored three runs and drove in a run.

OCU starter Zac Tidholm gave up five earned runs on two hits in four innings of work. Tidholm was hurt by six walks, five of which came in the fourth innings.

OCU travels to Alva, Okla. on Thursday for a nine-inning game with Northwestern Oklahoma State at 1 p.m.
Boxscore