EDMOND – Central Oklahoma split two games on the first day of the UCO/OC Classic Friday afternoon, with the No. 25-ranked Bronchos riding the top of the batting order to a first-game shellacking before suffering their first loss of the season.
UCO blistered Western New Mexico 11-3 in the opener as Rylee Lemos and Rylee Anglen - the top batters in the order - went a combined 7-for-7 with five runs batted in and five runs scored. The Bronchos fell to Oklahoma Baptist 12-7 in their second game of the day.
"We got off to a good start today, but really struggled in the second game," head coach Cody White said. "We didn't do much of anything right and you can't do that against a good team like OBU."
The Bronchos, now 5-1 on the season, return to Gerry Pinkston Stadium Saturday to face Missouri S&T at 3 p.m. and No. 20 Southern Nazarene at 5:15.
UCO banged out 13 hits against the Mustangs, with Lemos going 4-for-4 with three RBI and three runs and Anglen 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs. Ariah Mitchell and Brooklyn Ryan added two hits apiece, with Ryan also throwing out a runner at the plate from her center field post.
Shelby Beard earned the pitching win in relief, giving up two hits in 2.1 shutout innings in improving to 4-0.
The Bronchos broke on top quickly in the bottom of the first as Lemos and Anglen opened with back-to-back triples. Emily Deramus followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
UCO pushed its advantage to 6-0 in the second. Lemos and Anglen had consecutive RBI singles, with Macie Andrews adding a sacrifice fly and Ritz an RBI fielder's choice.
WNMU used a three-run homer in the top of the third to get within 6-3, but the Bronchos came back with four runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth to end the game on the eight-run rule.
UCO blasted three home runs in its fourth-inning outburst. Ryan and Lemos led off with consecutive solo shots and Ritz added a massive two-run bomb after an Anglen single to push the lead to 10-3.
The Bronchos ended it in the fifth when Mitchell led off with a bloop single, went to second on Andrews' walk and scooted home on Lemos' single through the right side.
Central broke on top 3-0 in the third against the Bison. Lemos belted a one-out homer to center field, Deramus added a run-scoring double and Ritz had an RBI fielder's choice.
OBU answered back with six runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to go ahead 9-3 and the Bronchos couldn't recover. The Bison finished with 15 hits against four UCO pitchers.
Anglen, Deramus and Kya Watson had two hits each for the Bronchos.
