Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Justin Brown
Justin Brown
6
Nebraska-Kearney UNK 14-35, 7-29 MIAA
7
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 30-17-1, 20-16 MIAA
Nebraska-Kearney UNK
14-35, 7-29 MIAA
6
Final
7
Central Oklahoma UCO
30-17-1, 20-16 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Nebraska-Kearney UNK 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 6 8 0
Central Oklahoma UCO 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 7 14 0

W: Culver, Tyler (4-1) L: Ertmer,Trey (2-7) S: Russ, Gibson (13)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos sweep Nebraska-Kearney to end regular season

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma baseball team Sunday ended the 2017 regular season with a 7-6 win over Nebraska-Kearney in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play at Wendell Simmons Field.
 
The Bronchos finish the season 30-17-1 overall and 20-16 league play. UCO will enter the MIAA postseason tournament as the fifth-seed and will open against fourth-seeded Central Missouri next Thursday. The double elimination tournament begins Thursday in Joplin, Mo.
 
"I'm proud of the guys for finishing strong," UCO head coach John Martin said. "We got a little too comfortable at the end today and gave up some runs we shouldn't have. But we got a win and that's all that matters. We can go into the postseason feeling good about ourselves."
 
Central has won seven in a row after Sunday's win.
 
The Bronchos began the day with some offensive firepower. UCO scored three in the bottom of the first, and did it with two outs. Jake Dyer struck out to begin the game, then T.J. Sparr lined out to the shortstop next.
 
Brenton Washausen extended the inning with a single up the middle before Dayne Sommer singled through the left side. Then, Jon Kamies ripped a double to left field to score Washausen and make it 1-0.
 
After looking at the first pitch, Anthony Alvarez smacked a line drive grounder down the first base line and scored both Sommer and Kamies to give UCO the early 3-0 lead.
 
The Bronchos then scored twice in the second to make it 5-0, and once each in the third and fourth to make it 7-0.
 
Tyler Culver got the start for the Bronchos, and got the win on the day to improve to 4-1 this season. Culver threw 5 1/3 innings Sunday, striking out seven along the way.
 
It wasn't until the fifth inning that he faced more than three batters in an inning. He gave up two in the sixth before the call to the bullpen.
 
Martin used most of his stable Sunday. Greg Hyde, Brock Stuber, Jaycee Parker, and Zayne Dougan all pitched over the course of the next 2 1/3 innings. Parker, who gave up two, and Dougan, one, allowed Kearney a little bit of life in the top of the ninth inning. UCO still led, but it was 7-5 with no outs.
 
That brought closer Gibson Russ to the mound. The senior – who along with 13 of his teammates were honored in a pregame ceremony for their time at Central – also allowed a single to the first batter to put runners on the corners before getting the next guy to strike out. Russ then allowed a run to make it a 1-run game before striking out the next two batters to end the game.
 
Russ ended up getting a save on the day after Kearney cut the lead from five to three before he made his appearance, which extended Russ' record-setting season. He now has 13 on the year, the single season record which was also the career record at Central Oklahoma just last week. Russ has 16 saves in two seasons at UCO to take that mark too.
 
Sommer finished the day 3-for-4 from the plate to lead the charge for the Broncho offense. He added an RBI and a run scored. Washausen, Alvarez, and Justin Brown each collected two hits on the day.
 
Caleb Peters had just one hit, but the solo home run in the second inning gave UCO an early and big boost. Peters, Kyle Miskovsky and Korey Floyd each hit six homers this season to lead the Bronchos.
 
 
Print Friendly Version
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors