University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

UCO Drops Tough One To Wildcats

4/1/2011 6:05:47 PM

Kevin Blue

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EDMOND (April 1) – A two-out walk to the number nine hitter in the lineup ignited an Abilene Christian rally that led to tough 7-6 Lone Star Conference loss for Central Oklahoma here Friday afternoon.

The Bronchos owned a 6-4 lead and got the first two outs in the sixth inning of the nine-inning contest before the pivotal free pass to ACU's Bryce Gerhardt opened the door for a three-run uprising that put the defending league champion Wildcats in front.

UCO had five hits in its final three at bats, but ACU held on to hand the Bronchos the loss. The two teams meet again Saturday, starting a doubleheader at 1 p.m. at Wendell Simmons Field.

“This was another tough loss for us,” UCO coach Dax Leone said. “Free baseball once again was the downfall and hopefully our players will stick to the system as a collective unit.”

The Bronchos tried to pull out a last-gasp rally in the bottom of the ninth when Tyler Hancock capped a 4-for-5 day at the plate with a two-out infield single and Derik Grimes followed with a base hit through the left side to put runners at first and second

But ACU third baseman Duncan Blades -- inserted in the ninth as a defensive replacement -- handled Keegan Morrow's hard-hit grounder down the line and stepped on third for the final out.

The Wildcats struck first with two runs in the second, with UCO getting one back in its half of that inning on Ryan Schoonover's sacrifice fly. The Bronchos moved in front with a four-run third, getting a two-run single from Kevin Blue, an RBI single from Arrow Cunningham and another sacrifice fly from Schoonover.

Morrow's RBI single in the fourth counted an ACU run that kept UCO in front 6-3, with the Wildcats cutting that to 6-4 in the fifth before using the faithful walk to start the game-winning rally in the sixth.

Hancock's four hits led UCO's 13-hit attack, while Blue ended up with three hits. Cunningham and Grimes added two hits apiece.

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