OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University opened the 2022 baseball season with a 9-3 win over Tabor (Kan.) on Tuesday afternoon at Jim Wade Stadium.
 
The hard-hitting Stars, ranked 20th in the NAIA, finished with 12 hits and nine extra base hits in the win.
 
Tabor (3-1) took a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Rodolfo Vasquez in the top of the second inning. OCU (1-0) would even the score in the bottom of the fourth inning on back-to-back solo homers by Frederic Walter and Peyton Crispin.
 
The Bluejays retook the lead at 3-2 on a solo homer by Tanyon Schafer in the top of the fifth inning before the Stars evened the score at 3-3 on a RBI double by Cross Factor in the bottom of that frame.
 
OCU took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Evan Maun drove a triple to the right field corner, driving in Walter. There was a throwing error over third baseman's head on the triple, allowing Maun to score.
 
Factor scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh to provide OCU a 6-3 lead before slamming the door on Tabor with a three-run blast of a home run to dead center field in the top of the ninth inning, pushing the lead to 9-3.
 
Factor, a senior center fielder from Yukon, went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, and Chad Pike, a sophomore shortstop from Southhampton, N.Y., went 3-for-5 at the plate.
 
Tanner Sparks, a senior from Shawnee, got the start for OCU.  He allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
 
Tyler Polk, a sophomore from Duncan, Okla., entered the game in the sixth inning and earned the win after allowing no runs on one hit and one walk in three innings pitched. The two runners that reached base against Polk (1-0) did not get past first base.
 
Darian Luper, a senior from Ada, pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to closeout the win for the Stars.
 
OCU was scheduled to play at home on Friday but those games have been postponed due to impending bad weather. As of now the Stars are scheduled to host York (Neb.) and Missouri Baptist on Saturday.