OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University ripped Concordia (Neb.) 22-12 on Sunday at Jim Wade Stadium in a battle of top 25-ranked teams in NAIA baseball.
The 11th-ranked Stars dropped a 3-1 decision to fifth-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) earlier Sunday. OCU finished the weekend 2-2 against two ranked squads, moving to 4-6 on the year.
Oklahoma City exploded for season highs with 23 hits and 22 runs against 21st-ranked Concordia. Chad Pike posted a career-best 5-for-5 performance with three doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Aiden Alexander turned in a 4-for-4 showing with three runs scored and a run driven in, while Reese Ratchford went 4-for-4 with three runs knocked in. Felix Chenier-Rondeau supplied a 3-for-6 showing with five RBIs and two runs scored and a three-run home run, and Frankie Danel III had a 3-for-5 outing with three runs scored, five RBIs and a grand slam. Noah Kang also hit a home run.
OCU erased a 4-2 deficit in the second inning as Reese Ratchford smacked a two-run double along the left-field foul line to tie the game. Rondeau, a junior psychology major from Blainville, Ontario, Canada, provided OCU the go-ahead runs with a two-run base hit past second base.
Pike, a senior business administration major from Southampton, N.Y., pounded an RBI double into left to put the Stars on top 7-4.
In the third, Ratchford added an RBI base hit to give OCU a 10-5 advantage. Danel, a freshman finance major from Guthrie, Okla., crushed a grand slam beyond the left-field wall in the fourth. Kang pounded a two-run shot to left for a 16-5 fourth-inning cushion.
Jesse Fonteboa finished off the game by nailing an RBI single into left in the bottom of the seventh.
Connor Ferguson collected the victory for Oklahoma City. Cole Sedgwick pitched a scoreless sixth.
Against Bellevue, Kiraly staked OCU to a 1-0 second-inning lead by crushing a run-scoring double into left-center field.
Bellevue tied the game 1-1 on Jake Lacey's sacrifice fly to left in the sixth. Lacey put Bellevue ahead with an RBI double to left in the eighth.
The Stars left the bases loaded twice in the game.
Rylan Roberson held Bellevue without a hit through 6.1 innings. Owen Viano broke up the no-hitter with a double in the seventh. Roberson, a sophomore right-hander from Edmond, Okla., majoring in business administration, struck out eight in 6.1 innings. Tyler Polk worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh thanks to an inning-ending double play.
Oklahoma City takes on 12th-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) at 10 a.m. and Doane (Neb.) at 3 p.m. Friday at Jim Wade Stadium.