Morrow Slam Sparks Bronchos

2/19/2011 5:35:00 PM

Austin Rycroft

Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 19) – Keegan Morrow's first-inning grand slam helped stake Central Oklahoma to a big early lead and the Bronchos held off Lone Star Conference rival Cameron 11-8 here Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies opened the day by finishing off a 9-5 victory in the completion of a Friday game that was called by darkness, but UCO rebounded to take the finale of the three-game league series. The Bronchos improved to 4-5 on the year and 2-4 in the league while handing CU its first loss of the season (6-1, 5-1).

“I was proud of the way we bounced back after two tough losses in the series and we got a much-needed win,” UCO coach Dax Leone said. “We played hard the whole weekend and it was important to get a win today.”

The Bronchos jumped on top 6-0 with its first-inning outburst, but CU rallied to within 9-8 in the sixth before UCO nailed down the win with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings.

Tucker Brown went 5-for-5 and scored three runs to lead UCO's 13-hit attack. Ryan Schoonover and Derik Grimes had two hits apiece, while Morrow and Austin Rycroft drove in four runs each.

Schoonover started UCO's first inning when he was hit by pitch, with a Tucker Brown single and Tyler Hancock walk loading the bases. Grimes plated Schoonover with a single and Rycroft drew an RBI walk to make it 2-0 before Morrow cleared the bases with his home run.

The Aggies got two runs back in the top of the second, but UCO answered with three in its half of the inning. Schoonover and Tucker Brown led off with back-to-back singles and Rycroft came through two outs later with a homer that made it 9-2.

Cameron made things interesting, however, scoring two runs in the third, three in the fifth and one in the sixth to crawl within 9-8.

The Bronchos got a run back in their half of the sixth when Schoonover led off with a single, went to second on Tucker Brown's base hit, moved to third on Hancock's sacrifice bunt and scored on Grimes' sacrifice fly.

UCO upped its lead to 11-8 in the eighth on Grimes' RBI double that scored Tucker Brown, who had earlier singled.

Josh Rolan earned the pitching win after going the first 4 1/3 innings and Kade Kauk picked up his second save of the season, striking out two and allowing no hits in 1 2/3 innings.

The Bronchos go to NAIA power Oklahoma City for a single nine-inning contest at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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