Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
DURANT, Okla. (Feb. 22) – Casey Bruns delivered a dramatic walk-off home run to lift Central Oklahoma to a thrilling come-from-behind win the first game before No. 15-ranked Abilene Christian rebounded to take the nightcap as the two split a Lone Star Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Broncho Field.
Both games went extra innings, with the Bronchos pulling out an 8-7 victory in the opener on Bruns' three-run homer in the eighth that capped a five-run rally and the Wildcats using a five-run volley in the ninth to post a 12-8 triumph in the series finale.
ACU won three of the four games in the series in improving to 10-3 overall and 7-1 in the LSC. UCO fell to 5-7 and 3-5.
“We battled hard today and never gave up,” UCO coach Wendell Simmons said. “It didn't look good in the first game, but we came back with a big inning and Casey gave us a win we really needed to have and we almost did it again in the second game.”
ACU looked in command in the opener after it pushed across four runs in the top of the eighth to take a 7-3 lead and put relief ace Brent Rutherford on the mound for UCO's final at bat, but the Bronchos were up to the challenge.
Blake Mitchell led off the inning with a walk, Nate Mitani singled and Andrew Foshee was hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs and pinch-hitter Kellin Sheets followed with a clutch single up the middle to score Mitchell and Mitani.
That brought up the right-handed hitting Bruns and the junior third baseman drove a 2-1 pitch from Rutherford over the right field wall for the winning three-run shot that gave UCO its only lead of the game.
The Bronchos needed another dramatic homer to force the game into extra innings after ACU had broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh and John Bryant came through that time with a two-run bomb that scored Luke Yost, who had drawn a one-out walk.
Tyson Fugett earned the pitching win after getting the final two outs of the eighth. Kale Murphree went the first 7 1/3 innings for UCO.
The Bronchos never led in the second game as well, but twice came back to tie it and had a chance to win it in the eighth before ACU finally put it away in the ninth.
The Wildcats jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first, with UCO getting two runs back in the second on Bryant's RBI single and Brent Hodge's run-scoring fielder's choice. ACU made it 4-2 in the third, but the Bronchos scored one run each in the fourth and fifth innings to pull even.
Mitchell had a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Yost, who had led off with a double and went to third on Hodge's sacrifice bunt, and Yost came through with a run-scoring single in the fifth to make it 4-4.
ACU broke that deadlock with three runs in the top of the seventh, but again the Bronchos didn't go down without a fight.
Monko drew a one-out walk in UCO's final at-bat and Bruns reached on an error before Yost plated Monko with a single through the left side. A groundout advanced Bruns to third and Yost to second, then Hodge followed with a single to right field that scored both runners to make it 7-7.
The Bronchos had a golden opportunity to end the game in the eighth after loading the bases with one out, but Bruns hit into an inning-ending double play and ACU responded with five runs in the top of the ninth to go ahead 12-7.
Yost, who hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth to arrange the final score, went 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead UCO's nine-hit attack.
The Bronchos return to action Tuesday, hosting Missouri Southern for a single nine-inning contest at 2:3 p.m.
