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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Carson Taylor
7
Okla. Baptist OKLA. BA 0-2
8
Winner Central Oklahoma CENTRAL 1-0
Okla. Baptist OKLA. BA
0-2
7
Final
8
Central Oklahoma CENTRAL
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Okla. Baptist OKLA. BA 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 7 9 2
Central Oklahoma CENTRAL 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 2 8 10 0

W: Berlowitz, Brody (1-0) L: D. Ronquist (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Chris Brannick

UCO Wins Opener In Walkoff Fashion

Bronchos Beat Oklahoma Baptist 8-7 In 2026 Season Opener

EDMOND – Caleb Castle's two-RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Central Oklahoma a season-opening 8-7 win over Oklahoma Baptist Tuesday and earned Robbie Rea his first win as head coach of the Bronchos.
 
"We found a way to get it done," Rea said after the game. "The guys kept their composure when it wasn't going our way and we found a way to get it done. Glad to get the first one out of the way and now we'll turn our focus to the next one."
 
Central Oklahoma (1-0) hosts the eighth annual Edmond First Pitch Classic beginning Thursday at Wendell Simmons Field. The Bronchos will play four games in the four day event that includes six teams.
 
Tuesday, in a game originally scheduled to be played in Shawnee, UCO had to scratch and claw its way back into it. Oklahoma Baptist led 1-0 in the first, 3-0 in the fourth, and 5-1 in the fifth. The Bronchos scored in four straight innings, including three in the bottom of the sixth, to keep it close. It was 6-6 going to the ninth before OBU scored what they though would be the game winner.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Haden O'Toole led off with a walk and soon advanced to second on a wild pitch. Trevor Rowe also walked, and Carson Taylor reached on a fielder's choice attempting to bunt the runners over. Then Taylor and Rowe advanced on another wild pitch and put two runners in scoring position.
 
Castle was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in the game. But he made contact on a pitch and sent it back up the middle. It deflected off the pitcher's glove and got passed the diving second baseman, trickling to the outfield. Both runners scored and UCO celebrated the walkoff win in the season opener.
 
Taylor scored the game-winning run. He was big for the Bronchos in his UCO debut. The junior infielder went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, a double and a home run. Rowe batted one spot in front of Taylor in the lineup and also had a big debut, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.
 
Elijah Alexander also had a multi-hit game in his Broncho debut. The senior infielder went 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI in the game. Kade Sheldon, Jackson Archambeau, Wyatt Yetter, and Castle all had one hit each. All seven Bronchos with hits on Tuesday made their debuts at UCO.
 
Another newcomer Kamden Thompson got the start for the Bronchos. He threw 3.0 innings and gave up three runs on five hits and a walk. Cade Perkins came out of the bullpen first and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out one batter. Blake DeLong threw one inning and struck out one. Michael Lopez threw one inning and gave up one run on a pair of walks. Tristan Wittau threw 1 1/3 and struck out two while allowing one run on one hit and a walk.
 
Brody Berlowitz threw 2/3 of an inning and earned the win. He gave up a single, but struck out the next batter and picked off the base runner to get out of the ninth and setup the Broncho win.
 
Taylor's double scored Rowe and made it 5-1 in the fourth. Yetter's single scored Sheldon to make it 5-2 in the fifth. Taylor's home run scored Rowe too and made it 5-4 in the sixth and Alexander's RBI double scored Sheldon to tie the game, 5-5, later in the sixth. Logan Firgens scored in the seventh on a fielding error by the OBU shortstop to make it 6-6.
 
Central Oklahoma plays East Central Thursday at 4 p.m. The Bronchos will play Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday at 1 p.m. and Missouri St. Louis Saturday at the same time before wrapping up the Edmond First Pitch Classic Sunday at 1 p.m. in a second game against East Central.
 
 
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