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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (May 9) – Central Oklahoma was eliminated from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Associations Tournament here Friday, losing to Missouri Western 5-2 in the winner's bracket game before being eliminated with a 12-1 loss to Emporia State.

The Bronchos finished the season at 37-17, their most wins since 2007.

"It'd a disappointing finish to a productive year," head coach Dax Leone said. "We made some good strides back to where this program belongs. I am proud of these seniors in a number of ways. They left the program in better shape than they found it and that is what we preach to them from day one."

UCO opened the day in a winner's bracket game against Missouri Western and took an early 1-0 lead, but could not sustain its offense after that and had two scoring opportunities thwarted by a double play as Missouri Western advanced.

The Bronchos had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth inning before a double play ended that threat and another double play ended a scoring threat in the seventh.

Josh Ingram went 4-for-4 in the game to lead UCO, but the middle of the order went a combined 1-for-9 after Ingram's spot in the lineup.

The Bronchos were forced to play an elimination game against Emporia State and again scored first but the defense let them down as they committed five errors.

UCO led 1-0 after Dilon Argo drove in Jake O'Brien with a single to right field, but that was all the offense the Bronchos could generate.

The Hornets took the lead in the fourth with a pair of unearned runs and that opened the flood gates as ESU scored four in the fifth, two in the sixth and four more in the seventh to go up 12-1. The Hornets got 12 runs on just eight hits and only five of them were earned.

Senior Phillip Wilson finished the season on a 17-game hitting streak, but the Bronchos only managed five hits as Jared Miller threw a complete game for the Hornets.

Emporia State advanced to the championship game to play Missouri Western.