Baseball 2/16/2024 6:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma Christian, To Play Weekend Home-And-Home Series

No. 20 UCO Hosts Eagles Saturday Before Making Trip Down To Oklahoma City

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma Christian are set for a weekend home-and-home series that begins Saturday at Wendell Simmons Field in Edmond and wraps up Sunday at Dobson Field in Oklahoma City.

First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. both days.

Central Oklahoma is 9-0 on the season and ranked No. 20 in the country in the first NCBWA Top 25 of the year. The Bronchos swept the competition at the Edmond First Pitch Classic two weeks ago, then all four games against Arkansas Monticello last weekend. UCO beat East Central for the second time this season earlier this week in Edmond.

Sunday will mark UCO's first true road game, all three miles south to OC'S campus. Central Oklahoma's series with Monticello and its midweek with East Central were all originally scheduled road games but were played in Edmond due to weather.

Oklahoma Christian is 2-6 in 2024. The Eagles won split a four-game series with UT Tyler, winning the third and fourth contests opening weekend. OC dropped all four home games to Arkansas Fort Smith last weekend.

UCO has a three-game winning streak against OC dating back to 2021.

COACH SPEAK

Central Oklahoma head baseball coach John Martin has begun his ninth season leading the Bronchos. The Kansas native is 254-148-1 during his time at UCO. He's won one MIAA title (2018) and made three NCAA national tournament appearances (2017, 2018, 2019).

"This weekend will be fun to play a local team and each of us have a home game," Martin said. "OC has a great program and we've had some really good games with them.

"We've been fortunate so far in the first couple of weeks," Martin continued. "I'm glad we've been able to get a lot of guys some time on the field and we're figuring some things out."

Martin is 8-3 against Oklahoma Christian.

PITCHING POINTS

Central Oklahoma has used 19 pitchers in its first nine games of the season and the Broncho pitching staff has a 1.90 earned run average. UCO is conceding 2.0 runs per game on 5.5 hits per game. The Bronchos have 80 strikeouts.

Starters Caleb Burchfield, Brett Pense, Preston Giltner, and Dax Sharp have been solid with two starts each in two weeks. Burchfield is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Pense is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA and has seven Ks in 10 innings of work. Giltner, who threw a complete game one-hit shutout Saturday, is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 11 innings of work. Sharp's 0.82 ERA leads the way, with the lefty knocking down 11 batters in 11 innings of work. Sharp is also 1-0.

Aaron Hosack (2-0), Valek Cisneros (1-0) and Justin Smith (1-0) have picked up decisions out of the UCO bullpen. Cisneros and Austin Burda both have two saves. Smith's eight strikeouts are a team-high for relievers.

BRONCHOS AT BAT

Central heads into this weekend averaging 8.4 runs per game on 9.0 hits per game. The Bronchos have a .309 team batting average. With 81 hits on the year, UCO has 31 for extra bases (20 doubles, nine home runs, and two triples).

Garrett Long, a junior second baseman, leads the team with a .450 batting average through eight of nine games played. He is 9-for-20 in eight games with a double, a homer, and seven runs scored. Carson Carpenter, a junior right fielder, is hitting .391 and is also 9-for-20 with two doubles, two homers, and one triple. He has 10 runs scored and seven RBIs.

Kaleb Glass, hitting .385 through seven games played, has a team-high 11 runs scored and the senior outfielder is 8-for-8 stealing bases. Orlando Gonzalez is hitting .281 through eight games. He has a team-high five doubles.

Cameron Uselton (.280) and Gonzalez both have eight RBIs. Justin Santoyo (.261) leads the Bronchos with nine RBIs.

EAGLE SCOUT

Oklahoma Christian has a .217 team batting average after eight games played this season. The Eagles average 3.3 runs per game on six hits per game. The OC pitching staff has an 8.70 ERA, giving up 9.1 runs per game on 10.7 hits per game.

EXTRAS

Glass has eight stolen bases this season and now has 48 in his career, which is four short of No. 10 on UCO's career list … Central Oklahoma has used six different outfielders in eight games, with Carpenter the lone Broncho to play all nine … The Bronchos have used 18 different position players in eight games this season with Carpenter and Gonzalez playing all nine games … Martin reached win No. 250 on Friday in Central's Game 1 win over Arkansas Monticello to become the third Broncho head coach to reach the milestone.

UP NEXT

Central Oklahoma is scheduled for another home game with its midweek non-conference matchup with longtime rival Southeastern Oklahoma State Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Bronchos are opening MIAA play next weekend with a three-game series at No. 4 Central Missouri Feb. 23-25 in Warrensburg, Mo.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Caleb Burchfield: P; 6' 3"; Senior; */R

#39 Valek Cisneros: P; 6' 5"; Senior; */R

#1 Kaleb Glass: OF; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#27 Orlando Gonzalez: IF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#12 Brett Pense: P; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman; */R

#3 Cameron Uselton: OF; 5' 11"; Senior; R/R

#16 Austin Burda: P; 5' 10"; Junior; */R

#9 Carson Carpenter: OF; 6' 2"; Junior; L/L

#22 Preston Giltner: P; 6' 4"; Junior; */R

#29 Aaron Hosack: P; 6' 5"; Junior; */R

Players Mentioned

#32 Caleb Burchfield
: 6' 3"; Senior; */R
: P

#39 Valek Cisneros
: 6' 5"; Senior; */R
: P

#1 Kaleb Glass
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#27 Orlando Gonzalez
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: IF

#12 Brett Pense
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman; */R
: P

#3 Cameron Uselton
: 5' 11"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#16 Austin Burda
: 5' 10"; Junior; */R
: P

#9 Carson Carpenter
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/L
: OF

#22 Preston Giltner
: 6' 4"; Junior; */R
: P

#29 Aaron Hosack
: 6' 5"; Junior; */R
: P