Baseball 5/13/2012 6:07:00 PM

OCU knocks off Lubbock Christian, Sterling

Third-ranked Stars meet Sterling at noon Monday with World Series spot on line

Chris Muñoz scored three times and nailed a double against Sterling on Sunday.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University blanked Lubbock Christian (Texas) 4-0, then shut out Sterling (Kan.) 7-0 to stay alive in the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round Oklahoma City Bracket on Sunday at Jim Wade Stadium.
The third-ranked Stars will face 25th-ranked Sterling (Kan.) at noon Monday at Jim Wade Stadium with an NAIA World Series berth at stake. OCU (46-10) will aim for its fifth consecutive World Series bid.
Cody Crabaugh and Ryan Gibson posted back-to-back complete-game shutouts for the Stars. Crabaugh, a junior right-hander from Edmond, Okla., twirled a four-hit, nine-inning whitewash against No. 19-rated Lubbock Christian while striking out five. Gibson, a junior lefty from Yukon, Okla., held Sterling to four hits and a walk while fanning seven.
Crabaugh (10-2) took 98 pitches to complete his gem. Crabaugh retired the final seven batters he faced and 21 of the last 23, holding Lubbock Christian (35-22) without a hit the final seven innings.
Crabaugh got 10 consecutive batters out between the second and the fifth innings. He worked 1-2-3 innings in the third, fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth frames.
Cody Ferrell launched a double into the left-field corner to put the Stars ahead 1-0 with one out in the second. Brian Fisher added a squeeze-play bunt to score Rich Hawkins from third base.
OCU hit two home runs to bring its NAIA-high total to 88. Dane Phillips pounded a solo shot in the third, while Chad Carman led off the eighth with a blast to left.
Carman, a senior from Midwest City, Okla., went 3-for-5 with his 10th homer, while Phillips, a junior from Nacogdoches, Texas, was 2-for-4 with his 14th homer. Ferrell, a junior from McLoud, Okla., was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, and Jonathan Sigado, a junior from Salem, Ore., went 2-for-4 with a run scored. OCU finished with 11 hits.
Against Sterling, Gibson set down the first 10 batters he pitched against. Matthew Krause broke up Gibson's perfect game with a bunt single with one out in the fourth.
Four Sterling runners reached second base. OCU aided Gibson by turning three double plays.
Phillips put OCU ahead 1-0 with a base hit through the right side, scoring Chris Muñoz with one out in the first. Muñoz started the game off with a double to left-center field.
OCU plated five runs in the fourth. Fisher socked an RBI single, while Kale Gaden bunted into an error committed by Krause, the Sterling third baseman who threw wild the first trying to retire Gaden. Fisher scored on the error.
Miguel Beltran drove in a run on a base hit up the middle of the infield, and Sigado nailed a sacrifice fly to right. Sigado added a sac fly to put OCU ahead 7-0 in the eighth.
Phillips went 2-for-3 with two runs driven in, while Beltran, a senior from Long Beach, Calif., went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Muñoz, a junior from Hacienda Heights, Calif., went 1-for-2 with his 18th of the year and scored three times. Sigado had two RBIs, and Fisher, a senior from Spring, Texas, went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
OCU-LCU Boxscore
OCU-Sterling Boxscore

NAIA Championship Opening Round
Oklahoma City Bracket
At Jim Wade Stadium
Thursday's Results
Mount Marty (S.D.) 8, York (Neb.) 7
Sterling (Kan.) 9, Lubbock Christian (Texas) 8
Oklahoma City 12, Mount Marty 3
Saturday's Results
Lubbock Christian 6, York 2, York eliminated
Sterling 2, Oklahoma City 1
Lubbock Christian 11, Mount Marty 1, Mt. Marty eliminated
Sunday's Games
Oklahoma City 4, Lubbock Christian 0, LCU eliminated
Oklahoma City 7, Sterling 0
Monday's Game
Championship
Sterling at Oklahoma City, noon

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