Skip To Main Content

University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Caleb Burchfield
1
East Central ECU 0-2
11
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 1-0
East Central ECU
0-2
1
Final
11
Central Oklahoma UCO
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
East Central ECU 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Central Oklahoma UCO 3 1 0 3 1 3 X 11 9 0

W: Burchfield, Caleb (1-0) L: Chat Hayes (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

Bronchos Earn Ninth Straight Opening Day Win

Central Oklahoma Run-Ruled East Central 11-1 Thursday At The Edmond First Pitch Classic

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma scored early and often in an 11-1 run-rule victory over East Central Thursday at the 2024 season opener and the Edmond First Pitch Classic.
 
The Bronchos have now won nine consecutive season openers, each under ninth-year head coach John Martin. Three of those also came via a run rule.
 
"We got good pitching, which you have to have, and the offense did a good job of finding a way to get it done," Martin said. "We missed some chances we should have gotten, but we did a good job overall. It's good to get the season started with a win, but we have a long weekend in front of us and we just need to focus on being our best."
 
Caleb Burchfield got the opening day start and the win after a strong five-inning outing. The senior from Catoosa, Oklahoma threw five innings, struck out four batters, and only allowed one run on four hits and three walks.
 
Brandon Gomez came out of the bullpen and was dominant in two innings to close it out. Gomez, from Oklahoma City, struck out three batters and didn't allow a baserunner in six batters faced.
 
Six of nine batters in the lineup collected at least one hit Thursday. Garrett Long led the way, going 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, and one RBI. Orlando Gonzalez also had a multi-hit game, going for 2-for-3 with a double, four RBIs, and one run scored.
 
Kaleb Glass, Carson Carpenter, Cameron Uselton, and Justin Santoyo all had one hit in the game. Glass, who stole two bases, went 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Carpenter scored three runs, Uselton added one and Santoyo scored twice.
 
Central Oklahoma scored three in the opening inning. Glass drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third, and then scored on a bases-loaded walk to give UCO the 1-0 lead. Gonzalez followed with a two-RBI ground-rule double to right field to make it 3-0.
 
Carpenter hit a deep sacrifice fly in the second to score Long and give UCO a 4-0 lead.
 
In the fourth, Carpenter added another with an RBI single to right to score Long again and make it 5-1. Glass scored on a wild pitch after that and Uselton's double to center scored Carpenter and gave UCO a 7-1 lead. Long hit an RBI single in the fifth to score Gonzalez and give UCO an 8-1 lead.
 
Then UCO finished it off with a three-run bottom of the sixth.
 
Santoyo singled through the left side to score Carpenter, then Gonzalez hit a two-RBI single through the left side to score Uselton and Santoyo and make it the final, 11-1.
 
Gomez returned for the top of the seventh inning and got the 1-2-3 inning, complete with a punchout strikeout to end the game.
 
UCO takes on New Mexico Highlands Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Bronchos will also take on Oklahoma Baptist Saturday evening and Highlands a second time Sunday morning.
Print Friendly Version
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors