OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University fell to MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 7-3 and lost to No. 12 Bellevue (Neb.) 6-3 on Friday at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars, ranked fifth in the NAIA baseball, moved to 3-4 on the season. Both games were season openers for Bellevue and MidAmerica Nazarene.
In the first game, OCU got on the board first in the bottom part of the second inning when Joe Lytle doubled to right-center to score Dilon Argo. Jared Baker followed with an RBI single through the right side to plate Lytle and give the Stars an early 2-0 lead.
OCU starter Mark Simon ran into trouble in the fourth inning when the Pioneers put five runs on the board. MidAmerica Nazarene scored on four consecutive RBI singles to chase Simon out of the game. Grant Hamilton, a senior from Oklahoma City, came in for relief for the Stars. OCU catcher Lytle threw pinch runner Blake Robberson out at second trying to steal but a pitch later a passed ball allowed another Pioneers run.
Simon, a junior from Houston, pitched 3.1 inning and received the loss. Hamilton notched six strikeouts in 3.2 innings of relief.
OCU's Skyler Bean, a junior from Garland, Texas, notched an RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 7-3.
In the night game against Bellevue, the Stars struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Lytle doubled to left field and Baker followed with a single to right field, moving Lytle to third. During the next at-bat, the Bruins' starter Ben McKendall threw over to first to keep Baker at bay and in doing so the ball scurried just enough away from the first baseman that it allowed Lytle to steal home.
The Bruins plated two runs in the fourth inning on an OCU error and an RBI single.
The Stars got one of the runs back and tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the fourth on an Argo RBI single.
Bellevue added a run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, then Ross Feeley of BU hit two runs in on a single up the middle in the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, OCU's J.J. Bissell, a senior from Fort Collins, Colo., hit a two-out RBI double to plate Joe Haddox who came on to pinch run after Dylan Delso reached on an error.
The Pioneers' Colton Nash hit an RBI single in the seventh inning which forced OCU's starter Carlos Chavez out of the game. Chavez picked up the loss on 6.1 innings pitched, allowing eight hits and striking out five batters.
Bruin starter Ben McKendall struck out nine batters and went all seven innings to earn the win.
Bissell went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
The Stars are back at Jim Wade Stadium on Saturday at 10 a.m. against MidAmerica Nazarene, then face Bellevue at 3 p.m.