OKLAHOMA CITY – The OCU baseball team continued its hot start to the 2024 season by adding two more wins on Friday to remain unbeaten as Trent Kiraly smashed a walk-off homer in game one before the Stars strung together another come-from-behind victory in game two. 

Game one 

Oklahoma City 6, Concordia 5 

Key Leaders  

Trent Kiraly – 2-4, HR, RBI, R 

Tristian Williams – 2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBIs, 2 R 

Chad Pike – W, 2.0 IP, 2 H, R 

HOW IT HAPPENED  

Oklahoma City (8-0) got on the board first to open the day as Tristian Williams blasted a solo home run over the left-center field wall to put the Stars in front. Onto the top of the fourth inning, Concordia (0-1) took the lead for the first time of the day with a two-run home run by Matthew Rhoades.  

OCU regained the lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning, scoring two runs as Darian Duhon brought home Spencer Biggerstaff thanks to a throwing error by the third baseman. The go-ahead run came in next as the three-hole hitter Aiden Van Rensum hit into a fielder's choice which scored Aiden Alexander from third.  

After the Bulldogs scored three runs in the sixth inning on another home run by Rhoades, Oklahoma City was faced with another late deficit. A second home run by Tristian Williams in the bottom of the sixth inning brought the Stars one run closer before a bases-loaded walk tied the game.  

A three up three down inning in the top of the seventh by Chad Pike set up the Stars for a walk-off opportunity in the bottom frame. Due up was the team's leader in RBIs and home runs as Trent Kiraly needed just one swing to win the game which he took advantage of as the powerful senior drove a no-doubter over the left field wall to walk it off 6-5 over Concordia.  

GAME NOTES  

• Trent Kiraly and Tristian Williams both launched home runs as Kiraly finished game one 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI on the walk-off knock.  
• Williams went 2-for-3 and hit two home runs bringing his season total to three, second best on the team, two spots below the team leader Kiraly who has five.  
• Aiden Alexander's six-game hitting streak came to an end after an 0-for-3 day but still managed to reach base after being hit by a pitch.   
• Andrew Limbaugh made start number three of the season while going 5.0 innings, giving up four runs on six hits while striking out a season-high six batters.  
• Chad Pike notched his second win of the season after entering the game in relief at the start of the sixth inning. Pike went two innings and surrendered two hits while giving up his first run of the season.  
• Oklahoma City earned its third win of the season when trailing in the last two innings and picked up its second walk-off win of 2024.  
• The Stars combined for three home runs, the most in a game so far this season. 
• OCU won its third straight game over Concordia after sweeping last year's series (22-12, 6-5) and moving the all-time series record to 5-1 dating back to 2019. 

Game Two

Oklahoma City 7, (#7) Bellevue 5

Key Leaders 

Darian Duhon – 2-2, HR, 3B, 3 R, 2 RBIs 

Trent Kiraly – 1-3, HR, 2 RBIs, R 

Cade Kelsey – W, 1-0, 2.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 SO 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Darian Duhon wasted no time to start the charge as Oklahoma City (8-0) got on the board first as the Stars second batter drove a solo shot into left-center to go up 1-0.  

Bellevue (2-4) rallied with four unanswered runs after a three-run second inning before Nick Grade put the Bruins up ahead 4-1 in the top of the third.  

OCU turned around with a four-run bottom of the third as Duhon once again got the Stars bats going with his first triple of the year to bring in Noah Kang. Aiden Van Rensum followed up an RBI single into right field while finally the cleanup hitter Trent Kiraly smashed his second home run of the day, the fifth of the season to take a 5-4 lead.  

The Bruins tied it back up in the fourth marking the third straight frame Bellevue had scored in. As usual, the Stars had something brewing late with another late-game rally on tap. Van Rensum and Tristian Williams each added a pair of RBI singles to secure a 7-5 lead.  

Chad Pike entered the game to shut things down in the seventh and with a game-ending ground ball double play Pike earned his third save of the season.  

GAME NOTES 

• The OCU 2-3-4 hitters were on a tear in game two as the three Stars combined for five hits, six RBIs, two home runs, and a triple.  
• Darian Duhon put together a stellar performance with a 2-for-2 day at the plate earning 50 percent of the cycle with a home run and a triple while driving in two runs and scoring once.  
• Trent Kiraly followed up his walk-off game with another strong outing extending his hitting streak to six games. Kiraly went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.  
• Aiden Van Rensum joined Duhon as the only other Star with multiple base hits as the first basemen went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.  
• Cade Kelsey entered the game in relief of the starter Connor Ferguson in the fourth inning as Kelsey made his second appearance of the season and tossed a gem in 2.2 innings of work while giving up just one hit, striking out three and allowing no runs.  
• Aiden Alexander got back into the hit column, and despite losing his hitting streak in game one, Alexander maintained his on-base streak while reaching base for the eighth consecutive game.   
• Oklahoma City earned its first win over a ranked team in 2024 as Bellevue came in ranked seventh overall in the NAIA.
• With the win, Oklahoma City moves to 8-0 and with a win in game one on Saturday the Stars will go 9-0 for the first time since 2009.  
• After falling to Bellevue in last year's NAIA opening round, Oklahoma City gets back into the win column against the Bruins for the first time since 2022.  

UP NEXT   

Oklahoma City will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 10) with a nine-inning game against Bellevue at 11 AM followed by a seven-inning game against Concordia.