Box Score
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (March 22) – Jared Sterling was unable to continue his torrid pace on the mound as he gave up seven runs on nine hits and No. 22-ranked Central Oklahoma fell to Missouri Western 7-3 here Saturday afternoon.
Sterling retired nine of the first 10 hitters he faced and his scoreless innings streak reached 21 before he got in trouble in the fourth.
The Bronchos plated a couple of runs in the top of the fourth behind run-scoring hits from Robbie Hoffman and Phillip Wilson, but the lead was short-lived as the Griffons responded with five runs -- three of them unearned -- in the bottom of the inning.
MWSU tied the game on RBI singles from Jake Schrader and Jeremy Monty before Cody Childs had the big blow with a bases-clearing double out of the ninth spot in the order that staked the Griffons to a 5-2 lead.
Missouri Western added single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 7-2 lead, equaling UCO's largest deficit this season.
The Bronchos tried to mount a rally in the eighth, getting a run-scoring single from Dilon Argo to make it 7-3 and loading the bases with one out for Wilson, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association RBI leader.
Wilson, representing the tying run, grounded into an inning-ending double play.
"Anytime you don't play clean baseball, make untimely errors and give free outs you're not going to win," head coach Dax Leone said. "Our players have to understand the concept of playing clean baseball consistently. We've been our own worse enemy in all of our losses and that's an issue we need to fix."
UCO fell to 17-6 on the season and 13-6 in the conference, while the defending league champion Griffons improved to 11-12 on the year and 8-9 in conference play.
The four-game series ends at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the Bronchos needing a win to salvage a series split.
