Baseball 5/1/2021 6:58:00 PM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Takes Series At Rogers State

CLAREMORE, Okla. – The University of Central Oklahoma baseball team swept a Saturday doubleheader at Rogers State, putting together a 6-1 win in the afternoon before a 3-1 victory in the evening game.

Central Oklahoma is 20-16 after the pair of wins. The Bronchos took the season series from Rogers State, 2-1, and improved to 15-12 in MIAA play this season. UCO's trip to Northeastern State next weekend wraps up the regular season.

"We battled today," UCO head baseball coach John Martin said. "We need to just go out and battle and fight for every game right now and the guys did that today. It was good to come back and get a couple of wins after losing the first one. Now we got to go get ready for the next one."

UCO used a ninth-inning rally to get the win in the second game.

The Bronchos trailed Rogers State 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning when Kyle Crowl scored Ryan Harrel on a single to center. Harrel walked earlier in the inning and moved to second on an RSU error.

In the ninth, Kameron Kilchrist led off with a walk and then moved to second on a Joe Mondragon groundout. Harrel then paid forward Crowl's RBI with one of his own to score Zac Freeman, who pinch-ran for Kilchrist at second.

Philip Scott gave UCO one more with an infield single that scored Bennett Laurence, who walked before Harrel's at bat.

That made it the final 3-1.

UCO had five hits in Game 2 Saturday, with Scott, Takamatsu, Crowl, Mondragon, and Harrel each putting one on the board.

Brayden Nelson got the start for UCO in Game 2. He threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk. He struck out four RSU batters.

Kyler Patterson, who picked up the win, threw 1 1/3 and went four-up, four-down. Beaux Bonvillain earned a save with his work in the ninth. He did walk two batters and hit another but a fielder's choice force-out at third ended the game and gave the Bronchos the win.

Central Oklahoma won 6-1 in Game 1 Saturday. The Bronchos jumped out to an early lead thanks to an aggressive top of the first inning.

Scott led off with a double before Takamatsu popped out to first base. Crowl then doubled, scoring Scott, before Nixon flied out to center field. Kilchrist added a third double to plate Crowl before Mondragon's pop-up to end the inning.

UCO was at it again with the top of the lineup in the third inning. Though Scott led off with a groundout, Takamatsu doubled down the left field line before Crowl knocked an infield single. Nixon followed with a double to left center that scored Takamatsu and a sacrifice fly from Kilchrist scored Crowl. Mondragon added a single to center to score Nixon and give the Bronchos a 5-0 lead.

Central made it 6-0 in the fourth. Harrel singled and moved to second on another single by Scott. Takamatsu grounded out to first base to score Harrel.

Rogers State got its only run in the bottom of the fourth.

Jacob Bailey got the win with a solid start on the mound that saw 11 strikeouts. The right-hander, who had a then season-high eight strikeouts in his start last weekend, went seven innings, allowed seven hits and one run, and only issued two walks.

Isaac Lawson finished off the game for the Bronchos, throwing two shutout innings out of the bullpen. He struck out two more RSU batters.

Central Oklahoma is scheduled to host Oklahoma Christian Tuesday at 6 p.m. before making the trip to Tahlequah next weekend.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Kyle Crowl: IF; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#2 Ryan Harrel: SS; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#17 Joe Mondragon: 1B; 6' 1"; Senior; L/R

#14 Brayden Nelson: P; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#15 Kyler Patterson: P; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#27 Philip Scott: 2B/3B; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#4 Zac Freeman: IF; 6' 0"; Junior; L/R

#35 Jacob Bailey: P; 6' 0"; Sophomore; */R

#11 Beaux Bonvillain: P; 6' 0"; Junior; */L

#26 Bennett Laurence: OF; 5' 9"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#12 Kyle Crowl
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#2 Ryan Harrel
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: SS

#17 Joe Mondragon
: 6' 1"; Senior; L/R
: 1B

#14 Brayden Nelson
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: P

#15 Kyler Patterson
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: P

#27 Philip Scott
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: 2B/3B

#4 Zac Freeman
: 6' 0"; Junior; L/R
: IF

#35 Jacob Bailey
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; */R
: P

#11 Beaux Bonvillain
: 6' 0"; Junior; */L
: P

#26 Bennett Laurence
: 5' 9"; Freshman; R/R
: OF