Baseball looks to snap four game losing skid

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

This past week the Oklahoma Christian University baseball team faced two opponents in four games and fell short in each.

The current four-game losing skid marks the longest of the season for the Eagles, who sit at an 18-15 record so far.

Thursday afternoon brought the St. Edward’s Hilltoppers to Dobson Field.

The Eagles came out on the wrong side of their previous matchup but looked to earn the season split with the Hilltoppers at home.

Junior Tyler Sturges got the start for the Eagles, dueling with junior Kyle Seithel of St. Edward’s.

The Hilltoppers got to Sturges in the first inning, with senior Taylor Johnson’s single serving as the catalyst.

Johnson proceeded to steal second and then was driven home on an RBI double by junior Ransom LaLonde.

The Eagles would answer in the bottom of the inning. Junior Markus Carr led the inning off for the Eagles with a double to left. Junior Caleb Price moved Carr to third with a groundball to the right side, and sophomore Jordan Lopez plated Carr with a groundball to the shortstop.

A scary moment at the start of the third scratched Sturges from the game, as a line drive off a Hilltopper bat hit the Eagles’ pitcher in the right ear.  Sturges walked off under his own power but handed the game to junior Kacy Cook on short notice.

Cook threw the remaining seven innings, allowing only one run, which proved to be the difference in the game.

A solo home run in the top of the fifth gave the Hilltoppers a 2-1 advantage, which was all they would need to escape Edmond with a win.

Head coach Lonny Cobble, while not entirely disappointed with his team’s effort, offered his keys to the loss for the Eagles.

“The St. Edward’s game, I thought, was a good game,” Cobble said.  “We played really good defensively, but we did not take advantage of the guys we had on base and moving people over and scoring them.”

Immediately following the loss to St. Edward’s, the Eagles loaded up and departed for Arkadelphia, Ark. for a three game series with Ouachita Baptist University.

In game one of a doubleheader on Friday afternoon, the Eagles handed the ball to sophomore Luke Sandoval.

The Eagles fell behind 5-0, but rallied back to tie it in the top of the fifth, capped off by a two-run single by junior Blake Stringer.

The Tigers would answer back, however, knocking Sandoval out in the sixth, then grabbing two runs off junior reliever Daniel Sawyer.

The Eagles would need three pitchers to work the sixth, bringing in junior Ryan Nash. Nash closed the sixth but allowed three runs in the seventh.  Sophomore Jacob Stephenson took care of the eighth with a scoreless effort.

The Eagles seemed to have expended all of their runs in the comeback effort, however, and five remained their total in the 10-5 loss.  Lopez finished 2-4 in game one, representing the only Eagle with multiple hits in the game.

Game two offered more of a duel on the mound than the first game did, with Eagles sophomore Kelby Reneau squaring off against junior Davis Ward.  Both would throw complete games.

The Eagles grabbed the lead in the third as Carr led the inning with a bunt single.  Lopez would move Carr to second to be driven home by junior Garrett Guys’ RBI single to grab the lead.

The Tigers answered with a run of their own in the fourth, and a two-out RBI single in the sixth by junior McCrae Jones served as the game winner to give the Tigers a 2-1 victory in game two.

Junior Brock Werdel and senior Chris Burgess combined in game three, allowing only five hits in a 2-0 loss to the Tigers to complete the sweep.

The Tigers grabbed the lead in the second inning, when senior Duncan Collins knocked in sophomore Parker Norris with an RBI groundball out to the shortstop.

The pair would join forces again to score in the fifth inning, this time with Collins driving Norris in with an RBI single.

The story for the Eagles depended, once again, on the quiet bats.  Senior Jerry Owen led the way for the Eagles, going 2-4 as the only Eagle with multiple hits.

Cobble later alluded to the Eagles’ drought at the plate in contrast with their performance in the other areas of the game.

“We went up and pitched well and, once again, we are playing great defense,” Cobble said. “We just have to figure out a way to manufacture two or three runs.”

Senior outfielder Heath Steele echoed Cobble’s thoughts pertaining to hitting but gave insight into the adjustments that the Eagles are looking to make in order to escape this low point.

“You cannot go through an entire season without going through a bad streak,” Steele said. “We kind of hit a skid and we just need to regroup, keep hitting the ball hard, keep pitching like we have been and just play good defense. We just need to get back to the basics and keep it simple.”

Cobble also brought to light an interesting fact, but maintains his faith in his players as they proceed through the back half of the season.

“If we would have just scored three runs in each of the games, we would have come home 2-1 instead of 0-3,” Cobble said. “I think that’s the most frustrating thing, but I think we are going to get it going.”