OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University took a twin bill from Texas Wesleyan with 2-1 and 4-1 victories Friday at Jim Wade Stadium.
Frederic Walter pounded a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth inning of the first game, then nailed a double with the bases loaded to bring home three more runs in the nightcap for OCU. The Stars, ranked fifth in NAIA baseball, improved to 33-3, 12-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Walter bounced a base hit past the third baseman to score Felix Chenier-Rondeau from second base in the ninth and give Oklahoma City its fourth walk-off win of the year.
Noah Barks staked OCU to an early 1-0 lead by launching a drive that cleared the wall near the right-field foul pole leading off the bottom of the first inning. Barks, a senior from Mustang, Okla., hit his second home run of the year and fifth of his career.
In the top of the seventh, Texas Wesleyan evened the score 1-1 on Manny Luna's sacrifice fly to right. Morgan McCloud struck out two batters with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning to send the game into extra innings.
Rylan Roberson (3-0) snatched up the win by working the final two innings. Roberson, a freshman right-hander from Edmond, Okla., fanned two. Eli Davis, a junior left-hander from Shawnee, Okla., pitched the first seven innings, maintaining a shutout through 6.1 innings.
In the second game, Walter crushed a double into left field to provide OCU a 4-0 third-inning advantage. Peyton Crispin knocked in the Stars' first run of the game with a base hit through the middle of the infield in the first.
Tanner Schoeninger gave up five hits in a seven-inning complete-game effort. Schoeninger, a senior right-hander from Fort Collins, Colo., struck out three. Schoeninger went to 7-0 this year. OCU turned two double plays, including in the third when Barks plucked Aiden Kenny's line drive headed to right field, then doubled up Chaesten Chon at first base. The Stars' other double play clinched the win.
Cross Factor, a senior from Yukon, Okla., finished the day 4-for-6 with two runs scored.
OCU concludes its series against Texas Wesleyan at 1 p.m. Saturday at Jim Wade Stadium.
