GOODWELL, Okla. – With a home stand on the horizon for the Stars, an Okla. panhandle road trip to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State University for a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series was business item number one for Oklahoma City University baseball. The OPSU Aggies are hosting OCU this weekend. On Friday, the two teams split the doubleheader. 
 

Game 1
Panhandle State 5, Oklahoma City 4


Top Performer
Tanner Ellis: 4.1 IP, 6 SO, 2 BB


Early offense fueled OPSU to a win in game one of Friday's action. The Aggies handed OCU their seventh loss by two or fewer runs in 2026. A three-run second inning ultimately did the Stars in. Defensive errors and mishaps by the OCU defense fortified the crooked number. During game one, OCU committed five errors; three of the five errors occurred during the first two innings of play. 

OPSU managed to score their three runs in the second inning without recording a single hit. Stars' starting pitcher Cayden Maxwell tallied five walks, one wild pitch, and one hit batter during the frame. Ultimately, the Aggies' offense was held to a single hit during game one. Tanner Ellis came into the game during the second inning to relieve Maxwell; the Norman, Okla. native amassed 4.1 innings pitched while recording six strikeouts. The only run Ellis allowed was unearned, coming off a failed pick-off attempt at first base that allowed the Aggies' base runner to score from third.   

Between the two teams, there were 10 total wild pitches. OCU scored its first two runs of the game on an OPSU wild pitch and a passed ball. During the fourth inning, Trent Baker came home on a passed ball by the Aggies' backstop after taking second and third base on wild pitches. Two hitters later, Wyatt Pace and Aiden Van Rensum were gifted extra bases on wild pitches; the second came on a Will Ellis swinging strikeout that allowed him to reach first base, and simultaneously, Pace scored.

OCU trailed 5-2 going into the final frame before generating two more runs of offense. Trent Baker connected on an RBI single to bring Clayton Allen home, making the score 5-3. The Stars scored their fourth run on another passed ball by OPSU. 

The final two Stars' hitters struck out and left the potential game-winning runs on the base path. 



Game 2
Panhandle State 5, Oklahoma City 4


Top Performer
Trent Baker: 5-5, 3 RBI, 2 R


Up until the sixth inning of game two, the script seemed as though it was going to remain the same from game one– a closely contested ballgame with a one or two-run victory looming. The Stars and Aggies were tied at five runs apiece going into the top of the sixth inning before the Stars' offense erupted for 12 runs in the frame.

Starting the scoring for OCU in the sixth was Cooper Holtorf, who laid down a beautifully and perfectly placed squeeze bunt up the third base line, scoring Jack Johnson from third. Trent Baker followed the RBI bunt single up with an RBI single of his own through the right side of the infield. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Wyatt Pace drove three Stars home on one swing of the bat. Pace cleared the bases with a gapper of a double and gave OCU an 11-5 lead. In deja vu fashion, OCU scored more runs when Baker placed another RBI single through the right side, Aiden Van Rensum reached on pitching mishaps, and Pace put the ball into play. 

Toeing the rubber for Oklahoma City in game two was Bauer Brittain, who pitched five innings and earned the win. Brittain started the season as a relief pitcher, but has now nestled himself into the rotation and is 3-1 in 2026. 

Between the two games played on Friday, OCU outhit OPSU 21-8. 



Next Up
The Stars and Aggies will conclude their series tomorrow at 12 p.m. CDT. Tomorrow's game in Goodwell will be a crucial rubber match, seeing as the Stars look to win their third straight SAC series to open conference play. Next Friday, March 13, OCU begins a series against the first-place Evangels of Mid-America Christian University.

 

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