OKLAHOMA CITY – The seventh-ranked Oklahoma City University men's baseball team used a productive nine-run second inning to power through for a 17-6 victory over Briar Cliff (Iowa) on Tuesday at Jim Wade Stadium.
OCU coach Denney Crabaugh reached the milestone of 1,100 career wins with the resounding victory. The Stars move to 11-2 on the season.
The Stars managed 15 hits, six of which were for extra bases. Terrance Jackson, a senior from Greenville, Ala., blasted his second homerun of the season for two runs in the fourth inning. Jackson narrowly missed hitting for the cycle after getting a single, triple and homerun in his five opportunities at the plate. He ended the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs.
OCU's Miguel Beltran, a junior from Long Beach, Calif., was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate, drove in three runs and scored two of his own. Beltran led off the fifth inning where he legged out a triple off a hit to the left field wall, his second of the season.
OCU had 13 total batters in the nine-run second inning. The Stars had four hits and six walks against two Briar Cliff pitchers to bust the game open. The Stars' offense added three runs each in the third and fourth innings. OCU put one-run innings in the books in the seventh and eighth innings.
Briar Cliff's runs were manufactured with two in the third, three in the fifth and one in the ninth. Starter Justin Green took the loss in the game after pitching 1.1 innings for the Chargers.
Ruben Sosa, a junior from Lawrence, Mass., was 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs for OCU. Kirk Walker, a senior from Bakersfield, Calif., was 3-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs for the Stars. Starter Mike Richard, a left-handed junior from Walla Walla, Wash., picked up the decision for the Stars. Richard pitched four innings, giving up five hits and two runs and striking out one to move to 1-0 on the season.
OCU plays host to Lubbock Christian on Friday with a 3 p.m. double-header at Jim Wade Stadium.
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