Eagles split series against Newman

In a home series against Newman University, the Oklahoma Christian University baseball team won the first game 12-8 at Dobson Field April 13.

Newman scored first, going up 1-0 in the opening inning, but in the bottom of the same inning, sophomore Hunter Markwardt scored and senior Kolton Brown crossed home off junior Alex Garcia’s homerun to put the Eagles up 3-1.

Markwardt scored a second time in the next inning before the Jets jumped ahead 4-3 in the third.

Brown hit a homerun in the bottom of the third to score senior Chad Kennedy and junior Brice Smith. Following a run by junior Callen Crockett, the Eagles led 8-3 going into the fourth.

The Jets scored once in the fourth, but Oklahoma Christian scored twice off Brown’s second homerun of the game which also brought in Kennedy, increasing the lead by two,10-4.

Markwardt and senior Kyle Bottger both scored in the fifth to give the Eagles a 12-5 advantage.

Junior Connor Litterell (2-0) pitched five innings as the starter, striking out six batters but allowing eight runs. He was relieved by senior Garett Hill in the sixth inning and he pitched the final two innings.

Oklahoma Christian lost the second game as they fell behind early and split the first doubleheader 1-1 in a 16-8 loss.

Newman scored seven runs in the first inning alone, holding the 7-0 advantage until the bottom of the third.

Markwardt, Bottger, Ward, Smith and senior Jake Collins all recorded runs in the third inning to bring decrease the deficit to two, 7-5.

Both teams scored three times in the fourth inning to put the score at 10-8. Markwardt, Crockett and Collins all scored for the Eagles in the fourth.

Newman closed the game with six straight runs in the next three innings as they held the Eagles scoreless. Newman won the second game, 16-8.

Senior Skyler Martin (4-3) started on the mound for Oklahoma Christian, giving up six runs and recording no strikeouts. Six other pitchers threw for the Eagles throughout the game.

To start the second doubleheader, the Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 4-3 and take a 2-1 series lead April 14.

Junior Garrett Wages put Oklahoma Christian on the board in the third inning, followed with a run by Kennedy in the fourth as the Eagles took a 2-0 advantage.

Newman scored three unanswered runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead 3-2.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Kennedy scored first for the Eagles to tie the game 3-3. Then, Litterell ran home after a single by sophomore Drew Wright to win the game for the Eagles 4-3.

Sophomore Gabe Rodery pitched seven innings, striking out 11 batters and giving up two runs. He was relieved by Hill in the eighth inning. Hill (2-2) struck out four batters and was credited with the win.

The conference series ended in a 2-2 split as Newman won the final game 10-3.

The Eagles trailed 7-0 going into the bottom of the second inning when Kennedy put Oklahoma Christian on the board 7-1. Then, the teams traded runs in the third, bringing the score to 8-2.

Newman scored again in the fourth and held Oklahoma Christian scoreless until Garcia homered to bring the score to 9-3. The Eagles could not overcome the deficit in the next five innings and lost the final game 10-3.

Freshman Robbie Suhr (4-3) gave up seven runs as the starter for the Eagles. He was relieved by senior Matthew Fusselman, freshman Julien Ly and Collins.

In a single game, Oklahoma Christian scored late to beat Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) 12-9 April 17.

Collins homered in the bottom of the first to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. SWOSU ran off eight straight points across three innings to take the lead 8-1.

Brown scored to end the fourth and bring the score to 8-2. Then, Oklahoma Christian scored 11 straight runs in the seventh and eighth inning of the game. Kennedy, Crockett, Markwardt, sophomore Slater Springman, sophomore Austin Stokes, Wright, Smith, Wages and Markwardt all scored for the Eagles.

Six different pitchers hit the mound for the Eagles. Freshman Jake Tomcheck (1-0) was awarded the win with four strikeouts and no runs earned in three innings.

Oklahoma Christian will next take on the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith in Fort Smith, AR April 27-28. The first doubleheader begins 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. while the second day’s games start at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.