The baseball team defeated Hastings (Neb.) 16-4 Feb. 8 at Jim Wade Stadium.
Sophomore Jared Baker drove in four runs, while junior Reggie Wilson had four hits. The Stars, ranked 16th in NAIA baseball, improved to 3-2 on the season.
Sophomore Ken Williams struck out Ty Neill on a called third strike with the bases loaded to retire the side in the top of the fifth inning. Williams earned his first collegiate victory.
Baker went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a fifth-inning two-run double, while Wilson was 4-for-7 with three runs scored and an RBI for the Stars. Freshman Joe Lytle went 3-for-6 with three runs driven in and an RBI double, and senior Ryan Wright was 3-for-4, scored twice, brought in two runs and had a run-scoring double.
Junior Joe Haddox nailed two hits and drove in two runs with an RBI double, and junior Hunter Marcum added two hits and two runs scored for the Stars. OCU pounded 21 hits to reach 20 hits for the first time since March 10, 2014. The Stars have reached double figures in runs in each of their three wins this year.
Oklahoma City plated four runs in the bottom of the fourth after Hastings tied the game 3-3 in the top of the inning. The Stars exploded for seven runs in the fifth.
In the fourth, Baker knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to left field with the bases full. Wilson scored on the play. Lytle added a two-run base hit to right, and Adam Clark got hit by pitch with the bases loaded to put OCU up 7-3.
In the fifth, Baker and Dylan Delso swatted two-run doubles. Delso reached home on a failed pickoff throw, and Haddox drew a bases-loaded walk. Wright tacked on a sacrifice fly for a 14-3 OCU advantage.
Haddox and Wright struck for RBI doubles in the seventh to put the Stars in front 16-3.
Sophomore Matt Young started for OCU and struck out seven in 4.2 innings. Carlos Chavez, a junior right-hander from Rio Rancho, N.M., fanned four and allowed two hits in three scoreless innings. Senior Josh Halbert finished on the mound for OCU.
The Stars take on 12th-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) at 10 a.m., then Grand View (Iowa) at 3 p.m. Feb. 14 at Jim Wade Stadium.
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