OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University defeated Bemidji State (Minn.) 11-9 and 7-4 on Saturday at Jim Wade Stadium.
OCU's Joe Lytle clubbed a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure game one, while Skylar Janisse paced the Stars with five innings of one-run ball in the second game of the twin bill. The Stars, ranked fifth in NAIA baseball, improved to 16-7 on the season and remain 3-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
The first game consisted for 27 hits collectively from both squads and only one inning of no scoring.
Lytle, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla., initiated the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. A few batters later, Dylan Delso smacked his fourth home run of the season to give the Stars an early 2-0 lead.
The Beavers matched the two runs in the top of the second inning, but OCU recaptured the lead off a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second. Bemidji State put across three runs in the third inning to grab a 5-3 lead, however the Stars responded with five RBI singles in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-5 advantage.
The Stars and Beavers added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, to make it a 9-6 OCU lead. Bemidji State's Scott Litchy hit a game-tying three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to notch the game at 9-9.
Lytle went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a run, while Dilon Argo finished 3-for-5 with three runs and one RBI. OCU's Garrett Foster went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. Ricky Parra picked up the win on two innings of relief and moved to 2-1 on the season. Beavers' starter Nate Heisick received the loss on 3.1 innings pitched and fell to 1-1 on the season.
In game two, Oklahoma City snatched the lead first in the bottom of the third inning off of a two-run double by Lytle and a two-run home run by Delso.
Bemidji State scored a run in the top of the fourth to cut the Stars' lead to 4-1.
OCU's Landon Coon singled through the right side in the bottom frame of the fifth inning, scoring Lytle and Skyler Bean to stretch the lead to 6-1.
Mark Simon relieved Stars' starter Janisse in the top of the sixth inning and surrendered three runs to the Beavers on an RBI single and a two-run double to narrow the OCU lead to 6-4.
J.J. Bissell of OCU hit an opposite field home run to add an insurance run for the Stars in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Lytle finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs, while Delso went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. Janisse struck out four batters and allowed one run en route to improving to 2-2 on the season. Beaver Starter Jack Stigman allowed six runs on five innings pitched, while dropping to 1-2 on the year.
The Stars and Beavers meet again for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Sunday at Jim Wade Stadium.