OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University took the weekend series with a 4-2 win in the first game of a twin bill against Tabor (Kan.) on Sunday at Jim Wade Stadium in a showdown of top five-ranked NAIA baseball squads.
Fourth-ranked Tabor answered with a 17-9 victory in the second game Sunday. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma City won three out of four games over the weekend against Tabor while moving to 11-7 on the year.
The Stars went to 4-5 against top-25 competition this year. OCU ran its winning string to eight before the second game Sunday.
In the Stars' 4-2 win, Kenny Roder limited Tabor to one run on five hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. Roder, a junior left-hander from Hoboken, N.J., struck out five while improving to 2-0. Roder escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning by getting Kaden Cline to pop out.
OCU's Ricky Parra earned his second save of the year. Parra, a junior right-hander from Bronx, N.Y., worked the final 1.2 innings while fanning two. Parra came in with two on in the sixth, then gave up a walk to load the bases. Parra retired Colton Flax on a groundout to end the inning.
Dylan Delso brought in the game's first two runs with a base hit to left field in the first. J.J. Bissell added an RBI single to right to give OCU a 3-0 first-inning advantage.
Garrett Foster nailed a run-scoring single in the sixth to put the Stars on top 4-1. Dilon Argo and Cory Linn tacked on base hits for the Stars.
In the second game, OCU plated five runs in the second to cut its deficit to 6-5. Foster swatted a two-run single, while Hunter Marcum, Joe Lytle and Landon Coon added run-scoring hits.
Jared Baker, a junior from Edmond, Okla., had a 3-for-4 performance with a double and two runs scored, while Coon, a senior from Dale, Okla., went 3-for-4 with a double, run scored and an RBI. Bissell, a senior from Fort Collins, Colo., provided OCU with a 3-for-4 game and scored a run.
The Stars begins Sooner Athletic Conference play this season against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) at 6 p.m. March 4 at the Waxahachie Sports Complex in Waxahachie, Texas.