Oklahoma Christian University’s baseball team stacked up a 7-game win streak before losing it in the second half a doubleheader battle against Arkansas Tech University on Tuesday.
The Eagles displayed a strong performance in the first game to blow away the Wonder Boys, and Caden Cleveland said good approaches to play were responsible.
“If we get one of the early hitters to get on base then we are a lot more likely to score some runs,” Cleveland said. “That’s exactly what Zac Cobble and Derek Jones did today.”
In the first inning Jones scored the first run of the game, followed immediately by Cobble after Ben McKenzie fired a single into left field.
Up by two, Oklahoma Christian worked together to score three more runs in the second inning. Kyle Lacy hit a triple into center field, sending Cobble home once more. Jones then singled to send Lacy home, followed by Brady Baugh’s single on which Jones scored a run.
In the fourth inning Baugh once again sent Jones home for the Eagles’ final run of the game. Arkansas Tech scored one run in the sixth inning and the Eagles took the victory 6-1.
The second game showed a flip-flop of efforts from the teams, but Cleveland said this is common in baseball.
“The second game got a little bit away from us,” Cleveland said. “They got at us first in the first inning but we did a great job battling back, it’s just one of those things.”
Wonder Boy Keenan Jumper hit a two-RBI double to start off the game. The Eagles responded with McKenzie sending Lacy home and Jones recording a run off of Jackson Matthews’ single hit in the third inning.
Cody Rosecrans smacked a home run in the fourth inning to help the Eagles lead 3-2 halfway through the game.
Arkansas Tech rallied together to send the ball flying and the hitters running as they scored five runs in the fifth inning and six in the sixth inning. After allowing 11 runs to go unchallenged, Ryan Ward hit a single to right field but scored a run with Rosecrans, both unearned, to put the Eagles trailing 13-5.
The Wonder Boys sent two more hitters home before the game’s conclusion, sealing the final game 15-5.
Cleveland said while the pitchers struggled in the second game the team looks forward to the next game.
“I feel very confident in every single guy we put in today [and] I fully believe that next time they go into the game they will throw strikes for us,” Cleveland said. “That happens in baseball, so overall it was a really good day for us.”
Oklahoma Christian travels to Wichita, Kansas for a 3-game series against Newman University on March 27-28.
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