McPHERSON, Kan. – Oklahoma City University triumphed over Central Christian (Kan.) 10-3 and 7-6 Friday afternoon at Light Capital Baseball Diamond.
Peyton Crispin, a sophomore from Lookeba, Okla., highlighted the day for the Stars with five total hits, three runs and two total RBIs against Central Christian. OCU, ranked fifth in NAIA baseball, improved to 36-10 on the year and 16-4 in conference play while the Tigers fell to 2-32 overall and 1-17 in the SAC.
Oklahoma City notched a run in the first, third and fourth to pad its lead 3-0. Tyler Williams drove in Elliott Cary in the first, Cary then scored in the third on an error and Crispin came in to score on a Dylan Taylor squeeze bunt in the fourth.
Bryce Milligan, a junior from Blanchard, Okla., continued his dominance on the mound after allowing an unearned run over 5.2 innings, while striking out 11 Tigers.
In the fifth, Williams scored when Caleb Davis drove a double into left center, then Crispin knocked in Bryson Lierle.
Central Christian got a run in the fifth on an error that allowed Jared Jones to score, but the Stars answered right back when Cary singled home Grant Harrison, then Lierle unloaded on a three-run home run to straight away center driving in Noah Barks and Cary, then in the seventh Joseph Garza scored on a balk by Central Christian's JJ Castelvecchi.
The Tigers rallied in the bottom of the seventh when Tyler Brown was hit by the pitch with the bases loaded and then Shomari Cann came home on an error to cut the Stars lead to 10-3.
Chris Bennefield came in an struck out the last batter in the sixth inning. Dylan Grove started the seventh, but did not record an out, Harrison came in and closed out the game striking out one.
Cary, a senior from Niceville, Fla., was 2-for-3 with three runs scored, an RBI and a double, while Lierle, a junior from Altus, Okla., went 2-of-4 with three RBIs, two runs and a home run.
In game two, Central Christian got on the scoreboard first, rallying for six runs in the second inning. Kyler Jay singled home Josh Clyden and JD Noey scored on an error on the same play. Ryan Mota then singled home Titus Beacham, Jay came home on the second error of the inning, then Mota came home on a wild pitch and Brown drove in Cann on a sacrifice fly. OCU responded with three runs in the third on three solo home runs by Williams, Davis and Crispin to cut the Tigers lead to 6-3.
In the fifth inning, Williams got things going with his second home run of the game, Michael Spetter drove in Dillon Goddard and then Cary singled home Garza and Barks to give the Stars a 7-6 lead. Williams, Davis and Crispin each had two hits in game two, while Spetter collected three hits, with William and Crispin each scoring two runs and Cary and Williams tallying two RBIs for OCU.
Jake Patterson, a junior from Ardmore, Okla., got the start throwing one-plus innings allowing six runs and five hits. Justin Berry, a junior from Union City, Calif., came in and secured his second win of the season, striking out 11 Tigers and allowing only one hit over 5.1 innings. Tanner Andrews, a senior from Asher, Okla., came in to get the last two outs of the game to secure his sixth save of the season, while throwing one strike out.
Oklahoma City returns to action at 1 p.m. Saturday for the final game of the series against Central Christian at Light Capitol Baseball Diamond.