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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Chase Yarger
9
Central Oklahoma UCO 34-11, 20-10 MIAA
11
Winner Washburn WU 24-19, 18-12 MIAA
Central Oklahoma UCO
34-11, 20-10 MIAA
9
Final
11
Washburn WU
24-19, 18-12 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 0 0 1 0 7 0 0 1 0 9 6 0
Washburn WU 0 0 5 5 0 0 1 0 X 11 13 1

W: Wilhelm,Gavin (1-0) L: Sharp, Dax (3-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Falls In Series Finale At Washburn

Bronchos Can Clinch Home Playoff Series With One More Win

TOPEKA, Kan. – Central Oklahoma dropped the final game of its MIAA series at Washburn Sunday afternoon, falling 11-9 in a game with several big innings.
 
The Bronchos are now 34-11 overall heading into the final week of the 2024 regular season. UCO is 20-10 in the MIAA. Washburn is 24-19 overall and 18-12 in league play. The two are now fourth and fifth in the league standings, which would put the two against one another in a best-of-three postseason series May 3-5 in Edmond if the standings hold the same for the final weekend.
 
UCO is tied with Pittsburg State for third place in the standings but does not own the tiebreaker. The Bronchos need one win to clinch the home playoff series but needs to do one game better than Pitt State next weekend to get third place. PSU finishes with three home games against ninth-place Fort Hays State next weekend. The Bronchos host seventh-place Northwest Missouri for three April 26-28.
 
On Sunday in Topeka, the Bronchos got behind with a couple of big rallies by the host Ichabods.
 
After UCO got on the board first with one run in the top of the third inning. Wyatt Gray led off with a double, moved to third on a Haden O'Toole sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a wild pitch to give the Bronchos a 1-0 lead.
 
But Washburn responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning, then five more in the bottom of the fourth, to take a commanding 10-1 lead.
 
Central didn't go away easy though. The Bronchos put up a seven-spot in the fifth inning to get right back in the game.
 
Ty Hammack's RBI groundout scored Gray, then Caden Robertson hit a two-RBI single to score O'Toole and Kaleb Glass. Ryan Strickland was right behind him with an RBI single to score Carson Carpenter.
 
After a pitching change, Garrett Long pelted a three-run home run to right field, scoring Strickland and Robertson, and putting UCO back within two, 10-8.
 
Washburn added one more in the seventh, and the Bronchos got another in the eighth when Aidan Proctor scored on an error to make it the final, 11-9.
 
Dax Sharp got the start for the Bronchos on Sunday. He went 2 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. Chase Yarger (2/3), Diego Dominguez (1/3), Justin Smith (no recorded outs), then Brandon Gomez (2/3) all followed Sharp out of the bullpen.
 
Yarger gave up one run on three hits. Dominguez gave up three runs on three hits. And Smith gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Gomez threw seven pitches to retire the two batters he faced.
 
Austin Burda finished the game for the Bronchos, throwing the final four innings. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out six batters.
 
Burda's six Ks were the only for the Bronchos on Sunday.
 
Glass finished 2-for-2 at the plate with three walks, a run scored, and three stolen bases.  Robertson and Strickland both had a single each. Gray hit a double. And Long a home run. Those six hits were all the Bronchos could manage on Sunday.
 
Central Oklahoma returns home for the final series of the season next weekend at Wendell Simmons Field. The Bronchos host Northwest Missouri and need one win to clinch home field in the first round of the playoffs.
 
The 2024 MIAA Baseball Championship begins May 3-5 with the top four teams in the league hosting best-of-three series on campus sites. The four advancing teams will meet in Pittsburg, Kansas for a double elimination tournament to determine the league champion May 10-12.
 
 
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