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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Carson Carpenter
3
Oklahoma Baptist OKB 2-1
6
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 3-0
Oklahoma Baptist OKB
2-1
3
Final
6
Central Oklahoma UCO
3-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oklahoma Baptist OKB 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 0
Central Oklahoma UCO 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 X 6 11 3

W: Smith, Justin (1-0) L: Nolan Feazle (0-1) S: Cisneros, Valek (2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

Central Oklahoma Overpowers Oklahoma Baptist

Bronchos Beat Bison 6-3 In Early Season Central Region Showdown

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma Baptist had a heavyweight slugfest Saturday night in the Edmond First Pitch Classic, and it was the Bronchos coming out on top of the back-and-forth electric early season matchup at Wendell Simmons Field.
 
Central Oklahoma 6, OBU 3.
 
"They fought for that one," UCO head coach John Martin said. "Those are the games you hope to come out of with a win, because the team just got better. When you find a way to win a big matchup like that, you're getting better and we're happy with that."
 
Martin was ejected in the bottom of the fourth inning after assistant coach Corbin Schrack got tossed for arguing a call at first base. Pitching coach Robbie Rea was left to himself in the dugout, but the second-year Broncho signal caller dialed up a big performance of his own.
 
UCO struck out 16 Oklahoma Baptist batters Saturday in Edmond. The team that put up 17 runs on opening day, and six more Friday as they improved to 2-0, that team was stumped at nearly every turn Saturday night.
 
Preston Giltner got the start and struck out six batters in his UCO debut. The junior right-hander from Overland Park, Kansas threw four innings and got a night of strikeouts started for the Bronchos.
 
Justin Smith followed Giltner and came out of the bullpen firing, striking out 6 of 10 batters faced in 2 2/3 innings of work. He did walk a batter but shut OBU down aside from that.
 
Austin Burda threw 2/3 of an inning out of the bullpen and he contributed to the strikeout party with one K in his appearance.
 
Valek Cisneros then came on with one away in the eighth to try and get a 5-out close and save for Central. And he did just that. Cisneros got a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the eighth, then after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth, and a fielder's choice that left two on with no outs due to an error, Cisneros shut it down.
 
He got vaunted OBU slugger Alex Schroeder to strike out for the third time in the game. Then got a flyout to left field before recording yet another strikeout to end the game.
 
UCO's four-person staff gave up seven hits and three walks but struck out 16 on the night. That number is tied for ninth place for most team strikeouts in a single game at UCO. It's the sixth instance since 2019.
 
UCO's offense didn't have a bad game in the shadows of dominant pitching. The Bronchos scattered 11 hits – three for extra bases – and put up six runs for the second day in a row.
 
Kaleb Glass, Carson Carpenter, and Ty Hammack, UCO's three outfielders, all had two hits in the game. Glass and Carpenter both scored two runs as well. Ryan Strickland added two RBIs in an 0-for-2 game.
 
Glass led off the bottom of the first with a single and Carpenter moved him to third when he also singled. The 1 & 2 spot in the lineup both scored in the first to give Central a 2-0 lead. Strickland scored Glass with a sacrifice fly to left field. Hammack scored Carpenter with an RBI single to third base.
 
In the second, Glass scored Wyatt Gray on a single to right field to make it 3-0.
 
OBU got one back in the third on a sac-fly, then tied the game with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning.
 
In the sixth, Justin Santoyo led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Orlando Gonzalez. He scored on a wild pitch moments later to give UCO a 4-3 lead.
 
The Bronchos added insurance in the seventh inning. Glass was hit by a pitch with one out, then Carpenter blasted a triple down the right field line to score Glass and give the Bronchos a 5-3 lead. Strickland hit another sac-fly, this time to right field, to score Carpenter and make it 6-3.
 
Central Oklahoma is 3-0 in 2024 after Saturday's win. The Bronchos are right back to it on Sunday, hosting New Mexico Highlands at 11 a.m. in Game 10 of the Edmond First Pitch Classic. East Central and Pitt State meet at 2 p.m. in the final game of the season-opening festival.
 
 
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