Baseball 5/12/2014 10:32:00 PM

Belhaven clips Stars 9-8

OCU takes on Sterling at 11 a.m. Tuesday

Forrest Smith delivered a two-run home run to reduce OCU's deficit to 9-6 in the seventh inning Monday.

Box Score
JACKSON, Miss. – Oklahoma City University's rally against Belhaven (Miss.) fell short 9-8 on Monday at Smith-Wills Stadium in the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round Jackson Bracket.
Forrest Smith hammered his NAIA-high 18th home run of the year for the Stars. No. 16-ranked Oklahoma City (35-18) meets Sterling (Kan.) at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
With the Stars down 9-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Jared Baker nailed a two-out RBI single to cut OCU's deficit to 9-4.
Smith launched a two-run blast beyond the center-field wall to slice the Stars' hole to 9-6 in the seventh. Kyle Lacy smacked a two-run base hit through the heart of the infield to within 9-8 in the eighth.
In the ninth, Baker crushed a leadoff double to right-center to put the tying run in scoring position. Austin Murphy drew a walk to place the potential winning run on first base.
Belhaven's Josh Rogers struck out two batters and finished the game by getting a pop fly to his shortstop Josiah Richard. Rogers worked the final 1.1 innings with two strikeouts to notch the save. Tyler Akins was the winning pitcher.
Brad Wieck took the loss for the Stars. Matt Marsh and Michael Nolan combined to keep Belhaven off the scoreboard the final five innings.
Belhaven racked up a seven-inning fourth inning to erase OCU's 3-2 lead. Richard had an RBI single to right for the go-ahead run. Gabe Wilson put the tournament host up 9-3 with a two-run base to left.
OCU scored its first run after Connor Lynch tripled along the right-field foul line. Adonis Askew, running for Lynch, scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of first as Belhaven led 2-1.
In the second, Baker singled and Murphy doubled to start the OCU half of the inning. Garrett Foster pounded a run-scoring single to right to tie the game 2-2. Murphy reached home plate on a wild pitch to give the Stars a 3-2 edge.
Lynch, a junior from Marietta, Ga., went 3-for-4 with a triple, while Baker, a freshman from Edmond, Okla., was 3-for-5 with a double, run scored and an RBI for OCU. Foster, a freshman from Ardmore, Okla., went 2-for-5 with a double and a run driven in, and Lacy, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Ryan Wright, a junior from Fruitland, Idaho, was 2-for-5. Oklahoma City totaled 15 hits to reach that number for the eighth time this year.

NAIA Championship Opening Round
Jackson Bracket
At Jackson, Miss.
Smith-Willis Stadium
Monday's Results
Game 1: Houston-Victoria 5, Sterling (Kan.) 2
Game 2: Belhaven (Miss.) 9, Oklahoma City 8
Game 3: Oklahoma Wesleyan 5, Houston-Victoria 3
Tuesday's Games
Game 4: Oklahoma City vs. Sterling, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Belhaven vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Houston-Victoria vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m.
Wednesday's Games
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5, 2:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 6 p.m., championship
Thursday's Game
Game 9: If necessary, 1 or 6 p.m.

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