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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Kaleb Glass
14
Winner Central Okla. UCO 19-13, 12-8 MIAA
11
Pittsburg State PSU 20-11, 15-5 MIAA
Winner
Central Okla. UCO
19-13, 12-8 MIAA
14
Final
11
Pittsburg State PSU
20-11, 15-5 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Central Okla. UCO 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 8 0 14 18 1
Pittsburg State PSU 3 1 1 4 0 0 2 0 0 11 12 2

W: Bailey, Jacob (2-3) L: Mendenhall,Jordan (2-1) S: Patterson, Kyler (7)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Outlasts Pitt State To Take The Series

PITTSBURG, Kan. – After a pair of low-scoring affairs this weekend that saw both teams win once, Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State had a Sunday slugfest in the final game of the three-game MIAA series.
 
Central Oklahoma 14, Pitt State 11.
 
"Our pitching was really good this weekend," UCO head baseball coach John Martin said. "And we got 17 strikeouts today against a really good team. Even though it seemed like a shootout, our pitching did really good this weekend."
 
Central Oklahoma struck out 17 PSU batters on Sunday. That followed 13 strikeouts in Friday night's win and 10 more strikeouts in Saturday's setback. The 40 strikeouts this weekend are the most in a series by the Bronchos this season and the most since striking out 40 in a three-game series against Fort Hays State in 2021.
 
Central Oklahoma used five arms to reach the winner's circle on Sunday and all recorded strikeouts.
 
Beaux Bonvillain got the start and threw two innings, striking out three batters. A.J. Ozorio-Brace threw 1 1/3 innings and struck out one batter. Chase Lorg threw 1 2/3 and struck out a pair of hitters. Jacob Bailey threw two innings and struck out five. Then Kyler Patterson threw the final two innings and he struck out six, including the rare four strikeouts in the eighth inning.
 
Bailey picked up the win in the game, having been in the lineup when UCO scored eight runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 14-11 lead. Patterson earned the save as he came on in the bottom of the eighth and shut down the Gorillas.
 
Kaleb Glass was key on the offensive side for the Bronchos, going 4-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Garrett Takamatsu went 3-for-6, belting two home runs. He also had three RBIs and two runs scored. Clayton Peterson, who went 2-for-6 in the game, had a team-high four RBIs thanks to an eighth-inning grand slam.
 
Central Oklahoma had a season-high 18 hits in the game on Sunday. Noah Olson, Trevor Stevens, Wyatt Gray and Landen Wood all had multi-hit games along with Glass, Takamatsu and Peterson. Jaden Parsons added one base hit.
 
Central took a lead in the top of the first inning thanks to Takamatsu's first home run of the day. He smacked a two-out homer to left center and gave Central a 1-0 lead early in the game.
 
UCO trailed 3-1 in the second before Glass logged a two-RBI single to center that scored Stevens and Gray to tie the game.
 
Trailing 4-3 in the third, the Broncho offense kept pushing back. Gray singled through the right side with two outs to score Olson, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.
 
Pittsburg State went back in front, 5-4, in the bottom of the third, then took what seemed like a commanding 9-4 lead in the fourth inning. But after a pair of scoreless innings by the Bronchos, UCO kept chipping away at things in the final third.
 
Takamatsu singled in the top of the sixth to score Wood, who led off the inning with a walk. The bases loaded base knock nearly started a big rally but Central moved to the seventh trailing 9-5.
 
The Bronchos got one more back in the top of the seventh. With Glass on third, Parsons grounded out to the second baseman and Glass scored to make it 9-6.
 
Pitt State extended the lead to 11-6 in the bottom of the seventh, and yet again the Bronchos didn't quit.
 
Takamatsu led off the top of the eighth with a solo homer to center field and that made it 11-7. Glass doubled down the left-field line and scored Olson to make it 11-8.
 
Austin Lambert, who pinch-hit for Stevens and drew a walk, scored when Seth Gray, also pinch-hitting, reached on an error by the Pittsburg shortstop. That made it 11-9. It turned to 11-10 when Parsons drew a bases loaded walk, scoring Glass.
 
Then, with Parsons, Wood and Seth Gray on the bases, Peterson launched a grand slam over the fence in left field and gave Central Oklahoma a 14-11 lead in the game.
 
Central Oklahoma then turned to Patterson, who struck out four batters in the bottom of the eighth inning. He allowed one hit, and on the third strikeout, the runner reached first safely after Wyatt Gray dropped the pitch.
 
Patterson came back in the ninth and walked the leadoff before striking out the next two batters and getting a ground ball to end the game and win the series for Central.
 
UCO is scheduled to return home and will face Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday night at Wendell Simmons Field. The Bronchos are then going to head back out on the road for a three-game MIAA series at Washburn next weekend.
 
 
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