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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
TK McWhertor
8
Pittsburg State PSU 31-21
9
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 36-17
Pittsburg State PSU
31-21
8
Final
9
Central Oklahoma UCO
36-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Pittsburg State PSU 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 1 0 8 10 1
Central Oklahoma UCO 0 1 0 1 3 2 0 1 0 1 9 15 0

W: Hall, Dylan (8-3) L: Achtermann,Alex (4-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Advances To MIAA Championship

PITTSBURG, Kan. – TK McWhertor knocked a bottom of the 10th, walkoff RBI single to right field to score Paul Kropf and send the University of Central Oklahoma to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Tournament championship game. The Bronchos beat Pittsburg State 9-8 Sunday at PSU's Al Ortolani Field.
 
"Just never give up and never quit fighting," UCO head baseball coach John Martin said. "That's what the guys knew they needed to do today and that's what they did. That was a lot of fun and pretty stressful but to see the guys come through is unbeatable."
 
Central Oklahoma will play Central Missouri Sunday evening for the MIAA Championship and the league's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament next week.
 
Kropf led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw. Brock Ruminer laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Kropf up to second. He found third base on a wild pitch. Then McWhertor smacked the game-winning hit.
 
McWhertor finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Kropf was 4-for-6 with a pair of singles and a pair of solo home runs.
 
Pittsburg State got the scoring started Sunday with a two-out solo home run in the top of the first inning. UCO had a pair of singles in the bottom half of the inning, but couldn't respond. In the second though, Kropf took it into his own hands and blasted a leadoff solo home run over the fence in left field to tie the game, 1-1.
 
Kropf came back up in the bottom of the fourth, this time with one out, and did the same as in his first at bat. He took a hack at a 2-0 pitch and drove it 420+ feet to center field and gave Central a 2-1 lead in the game.
 
Central blew it open in the next inning.
 
Philip Scott led off with a single and Kyle Crowl followed drawing a walk to put two on with nobody out. Joe Mondragon was next up and he pelted a two-RBI double to give UCO a 4-1 lead. After Taylor Avila singled to left to put runners on the corners, Avila tried to steal second and the PSU catcher sent the throw to center field, allowing Mondragon to score and give the Bronchos a 5-1 lead.
 
UCO kept it going in the sixth. McWhertor led off with a single up the middle and moved up to second on a Dru Barrier sacrifice bunt. TJ Black then tried the same and laid down a good bunt that he was able to beat out and put runners on the corners. He stole second before Scott earned a walk and then Crowl followed that with a sacrifice fly to center that scored McWhertor to give UCO a 6-1 lead.
 
Mondragon got hit by a pitch on the next at bat and Avila drew a bases-loaded to score Black. That gave Central a 7-1 lead in the game.
 
But Pittsburg State would come back.
 
Junior Obeso got the start for the Bronchos Sunday. In his 58th career appearance, which ranks fourth on the Central Oklahoma all-time list, it was the first start for the senior righty from Dover, Okla. Obeso didn't disappoint. He threw 4 2/3, striking out three, and allowed just three hits and a walk in leaving Central with a 2-1 lead.
 
Landon Bond replaced Obeso in the fifth and struck out the first batter he saw to keep UCO ahead through five innings. He threw 1 1/3 innings and struck out two. Bond allowed a pair of doubles, the latter of which scored PSU a run to make it 7-2.
 
UCO went to Gabe Littlejim after that but he walked a pair of batters to load the bases. UCO went to Josh Rutland after that and he gave up an RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to bring Pitt State to within three, 7-4. A pair of fielder's choice RBIs followed that to make it 7-6 before the Bronchos finally got out of the inning.
 
Pitt State came back to tie it the next inning, putting a pair of doubles around a sac-bunt. The second double scored a run that made it 7-7.
 
UCO went up 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth as it try to put away the game, but PSU answered back with another run in the top of the ninth to tie it up, 8-8.
 
 
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