OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University dropped a doubleheader to Sterling (Kan.) 18-2 and 5-3 on Tuesday at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars, ranked fifth in the NAIA baseball, moved to 30-8 on the season, while Sterling improved to 20-15.
In the first game, OCU got on the board first in the bottom part of the first inning when Quinton Walbergh scored on a wild pitch. Bryson Lierle followed with an RBI single through the middle to plate Tyler Williams and give the Stars an early 2-0 lead.
OCU starter Justin Berry ran into trouble in the third inning when the Warriors put five runs on the board to gain a 6-2 lead without recording a hit. Sterling scored on three consecutive bases-loaded hit batters to chase Berry out of the game. Chris Goldston, a freshman from Leedey, Okla., came in for relief for the Stars. Goldston allowed two more runs in the inning on a sacrifice fly and walking a batter with the bases loaded.
Sterling added two runs in the fifth and nine in the sixth.
Berry, a junior from Union City, Calif., pitched two innings and received the loss. Goldston notched five strikeouts in 3.1 innings of relief. Spencer Flatt, a freshman from Ardmore, Okla., came in and faced five batters without recording an out and then Caleb Evan, a freshman from Midwest City, Okla., threw the final 1.2 innings, striking out two.
In the second game, Sterling struck first in the top of the first inning. Markus Montelongo drove in Ben Giland on a sacrifice fly to center.
The Stars plated a run in the bottom half of the inning on a Peyton Crispin bases loaded walk.
The Stars took the lead in the second on a Michael Spetter home run, but the Warriors tied the game at 2-2 in the top half of the third on an RBI single by Jake Northrup.
OCU regained the lead in the third when Jared Hazeldine singled through the right side to knock in Caleb Davis.
In the top of the fifth, Sterling added two runs on two sacrifice flies and in the seventh they added the final run.
Brandon Goldston, a junior from Leedey, Okla., started and went six innings allowing four runs while striking out four. Brandon Goldston got saddled with the loss. Grant Harrison, a freshman from Jones, Okla., came in and got two outs in the seventh, before Tanner Andrews, a senior from Asher, Okla., took over to record the final out of the inning.
The Warriors bullpen held the Stars scoreless over the final five innings.
Crispin went 4-for-6 on the day with an RBI and a walk.
The Stars are back in action on Wednesday in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. against Southwestern (Kan.) at Jim Wade Stadium.