OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University routed Panhandle State 16-4 on Friday afternoon at Jim Wade Stadium in the Sooner Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
Peyton Crispin knocked in four runs, while Dylan Taylor put Oklahoma City (44-4) ahead by six runs with a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning. The Stars, ranked fourth in the NAIA, faces Texas Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Stars erased a 3-2 second-inning deficit. In the third, Cross Factor smacked an RBI double to the right-center field wall to tie the game. Frederic Walter lined sharply down the third-base line and beat out an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run.
Noah Barks tacked on a run-scoring single in the fourth. OCU piled up six runs in the fifth as Taylor struck for a double over the center fielder to drive home three runs. Chad Pike got hit by pitch with the bases full, and Crispin brought home two runs on a base hit through the middle of the infield for a 9-3 OCU cushion.
The Stars plated five more runs in the sixth. Crispin capped the scoring with a single to right.
Crispin, a senior from Lookeba, Okla., went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, while Taylor, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., was 1-for-2 with a season-high three runs driven in. Factor, a senior from Yukon, Okla., turned in a 3-for-4 day with a run scored and two RBIs, and Walter, a senior from Montigny, France, posted a 3-for-4 performance, scored a run and knocked in two runs.
Tanner Sparks notched the win, moving to 9-1 on the year. Sparks, a senior right-hander from Shawnee, Okla., scattered 12 hits with four strikeouts in six innings.
