OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma City Stars baseball team picked up a 4-2 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God to advance to the semifinal round on Sunday.
Oklahoma City Stars – 4
Southwestern Assemblies of God — 2
Game Summary
The Oklahoma City Stars scored the majority of its runs in the early part of the contest for the second consecutive game. OCU rattled off a three-run second inning as Aiden Alexander smacked a two-run double to right center field to put the Stars up 2-0. The following at-bat with Hunter Lenochan replicated what Alexander did by trading places on an RBI double from the Stars second basemen.
The Lions scored one in the fifth and one in the eighth to cut the deficit to just one. Oklahoma City nabbed one more in the top of the ninth inning as Darian Duhon provided an insurance run for the second straight day with a single to right that scored Noah Kang. Chad Pike came on with two outs in the eighth and finished the game to earn the four-out save to become the nation's leader with 13 on the year.
Game Notes
-Oklahoma City starts SAC Tournament play 2-0 for the third straight season as the Stars place themselves in the driver's seat in the semifinal round, one win away from punching their ticket to the championship game.
-Andrew Limbaugh improved to 7-2 with the win after going 7.2 innings allowing two runs on 11 hits while walking just one and striking out two. Limbaugh threw his second-most amount of innings this season on Saturday afternoon and has not allowed more than two earned runs since Apr. 5.
-Chad Pike took sole possession as the NAIA leader in saves after picking up his 13th of the season. Pike keeps the opponent scoreless for the 12th time in his last 13 outings and has allowed just three hits over 11.2 innings with 10 strikeouts in that span.
-Aiden Alexander led OCU with two RBI after slashing his ninth double of the year in the top of the second inning into right-center field to extend his hitting streak to four games. Alexander notched multiple RBI for the seventh time this season while also grabbing his 18th stolen base.
-Hunter Lenochan followed up Alexander's at-bat with a double of his own, his seventh of the year. Lenochan finished the game 1-for-4 with an RBI that they gave the Stars their third run of the ball game.
-For the second second straight day Darian Duhon provided a late-inning insurance run with a single to right. Duhon tallied his 33rd RBI of the year, tying Pike for third most on the team.
-Aiden Van Rensum snapped an 0-for-9 drought at the plate by leading the way in hits for Oklahoma City as Van Rensum became the only Star to collect multiple base hits in the contest.
-The top three hitters in the OCU lineup carried most of the weight as all three tabbed a hit each while combining for all four RBI.
-Oklahoma City will take on Southwestern Assemblies of God once again with a chance to make a trip to the championship game for a shot at three straight SAC Tournament titles.
Next Up
Oklahoma City will take on Southwestern Assemblies of God at 1 PM on Sunday on Denney Crabaugh Field at Jim Wade Stadium. SAGU must beat OCU twice to advance to the championship game while OCU needs just one win to move on.
