OKLAHOMA CITY – Mark Purser hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to propel third-ranked Oklahoma City University past Bacone 9-8 on Monday evening at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars (37-11) smashed five homers on the night, including two from Purser, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Steve Vitale, Brian Fisher and Nathan Bryan each had solo shots for the Stars.
Bacone overcame an 8-6 deficit in the top of the ninth inning with a pair of runs on a single from Kevin Castillo with two outs. Purser ripped the first pitch he saw over the left-center wall in the bottom half of the ninth as OCU defeated Bacone for the second time this season.
Zac Coplon picked up his first victory of the season after allowing two runs in the ninth inning. Coplon, a junior right-hander from Claremore, Okla., gave up two runs on two hits in one inning of work. Michael Kline picked up the loss for Bacone to drop to 4-5 on the season.
Zac Tidholm made the start for OCU, working five scoreless innings and striking out six batters. The Stars built an early 6-0 lead through five innings before Bacone rallied. Vitale, a senior from East Meadow, N.Y., hit a solo shot to right field in the first inning that put OCU on the board first. Fisher, a sophomore from Spring, Texas, led off the fourth inning with an opposite-field homer to give the Stars a 2-0 lead.
OCU capitalized on a pair of fielding errors by Bacone in the fifth to plate four runs in the inning. Purser lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Kirk Walker for the first run of the inning. After Bryan walked, Scott Dalrymple doubled down the left-field line to bring in a run. Garrett Regan and Matt Presley each reached on errors, bringing home a pair of runs.
Bacone rallied with three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at six apiece. The Warriors finished with an 11-10 advantage in hits for the game.
Bryan and Purser hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the seventh as OCU regained the lead at 8-6.
OCU hosts Wayland Baptist (Texas) for a three-game series beginning Friday with doubleheader at 4 p.m. at Jim Wade Stadium.
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