EDMOND – Unbeaten Central Oklahoma makes its home debut this weekend when the No. 25-ranked Bronchos host four games at Gerry Pinkston Stadium during the two-day UCO/OC Classic.
UCO, 4-0 on the young season, opens against Western New Mexico (3-2) at 10:30 a.m. Friday before taking on Oklahoma Baptist (3-1) at 12:45 p.m. The Bronchos return Saturday to face Missouri S&T (0-5) at 3 p.m. and No. 20 Southern Nazarene (5-1) at 5:15.
It's the start of a nine-game homestand for the Bronchos, who host five games in the Raising Cane's Festival Feb. 14-16.
"We're looking forward to being at home for a couple of weeks," said head coach Cody White, who is 450-160 in his 12th year at the helm. "I thought we played pretty well last weekend, especially for it being our first games of the season, and we just want to continue building on that."
ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO's 4-0 start is its best since the 2021 team opened the season 6-0.
The Bronchos beat three returning national tournament teams – including two that made last year's Division II World Series – at the season-opening Gulf Shores Invitational in Alabama last weekend.
UCO overcame a 5-0 deficit to topple No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne 9-5, routed Spring Hill 9-2, clipped No. 6 Auburn-Montgomery 4-2 and trimmed West Florida 7-6 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. L-R and AUM both made the Division II World Series in 2024, while SHU was a national qualifier and UWF won 36 games.
The Bronchos hit .354 while outscoring those four teams 29-14.
Sophomore Brooklyn Ryan led the offense, hitting .583 with seven hits in 12 at bats, including her first career home run. Junior newcomer Kennedy Clark batted .545 (6-for-11) with four runs batted in and freshman Ariah Mitchell had a .500 average (5-for-10) along with the game-winning RBI against UWF.
Senior All-American Terin Ritz hit .385 with two doubles and six RBI. She moved into ninth place on UCO's career RBI list with 140.
Sophomore Shelby Beard earned three of the wins in the pitching circle, two in relief and one as a starter. She gave up just seven hits and two runs (one earned) in 10 innings while striking out seven.
Ritz picked up the other win, going the distance in the 4-2 win over AUM.
