Senior Outfielder Garrett Regan bats during the Stars’ game against Rogers State at Jim Wade Stadium. Photo: Student Publications archives
OKLAHOMA CITY – It took an extra inning and a walk-off single for OCU to scrape by with a 7-6 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan on April 6 at Jim Wade Stadium.
The Stars (31-4), ranked first in NAIA baseball, built a 6-2 lead after six innings before Oklahoma Wesleyan rallied to tie and extend the game to a 10th inning. With the loss, the Eagles move to 21-18 on the season.
The night ended with a walk-off single belted out to right field off the bat of last week’s NAIA player of the week Miguel Beltran. Beltran, a junior from Long Beach, Calif., brought in Kirk Walker from second base to get the extra-inning win.
Reliever Cody Crabaugh struck out the side in the top of the 10th to give the Stars the opportunity to break the 6-6 tie and nab the win. Crabaugh, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., ended the evening as the game-winner after striking out six batters in 2.2 innings of work.
The Eagles jumped on the board first after bagging a run on a sacrifice fly ball hit by Nick Palese. OCU answered in the second with a two-RBI double down the left field line by Walker. Walker’s poke brought around Dearth Parker and Mark Purser to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.
The margin was extended to 5-1 after OCU added three in the third, including a Beltran lead-off homer. Parker and Purser ripped back-to-back hits for RBIs later in the inning for OCU.
Oklahoma Wesleyan and OCU exchanged runs to get the score to 6-2 heading into the seventh. The Eagles come-back bid began with a three-run inning to narrow the score to 6-5 in favor of the Stars. Three hit batters and a walk was doled out to give Oklahoma Wesleyan its first run of the inning and force a pitching change. Jake Palese was called upon to pinch hit for the Eagles and capitalized with a two RBI single. The Eagles evened the game at 6-6 in the top of the eighth to force the extra inning.
OCU owned a 13-8 hitting advantage, but stranded 12 on the base paths in the game. Beltran ended the night 2-for-5 from the plate with two RBIs and his ninth home run of the season. Walker was 3-for-5 for the Stars and Matt Presley and Parker both ended with 2-for-4 outings.
OCU travels to Lindenwood (Mo.) for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday in St. Charles, Mo.
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