OCU Pounds Baker 17-3, Rallies Past Saint Mary 7-6

Oklahoma City University pummeled Baker (Kan.) 17-3 and rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a walk-off victory over Saint Mary (Kan.) 7-6 Sunday at Jim Wade Stadium.

The Stars, ranked No. 4 in NAIA baseball, improved to 17-3 on the season and gave Denney Crabaugh his 1,200th and 1,201st victories as OCU head coach. Crabaugh has a record of 1,201-369-2 in his 25th year at OCU and is an NAIA and Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association hall of famer.

OCU got RBI singles from Jonathan Rodriguez and Forrest Smith and took a 2-0 lead over Baker in the bottom of the first. Kale Gaden followed with a three-run homer to right field to make the score 5-0 in favor of the Stars.

After a Rodriguez RBI double, Smith belted a two-run home run to left-center field to push the OCU lead to 8-0 in the bottom of the second.

Cody Ferrell crushed a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 11-0. Brayden Brumley followed with a single to plate two more runs. Jonathan Sigado capped the eight-run inning for OCU with a double down the left-field line to drive in a pair of runs and stake the Stars to a 17-0 lead.

Will Patrigo allowed three runs but retired the side in the top of the seventh to give OCU the 17-3 victory.

Cody Crabaugh surrendered four hits and struck out five batters in 4.1 scoreless innings of work to improve to 4-1. Ricky Spain tossed 1.2 innings and Patrigo threw one inning in relief.

Smith and Gaden notched three RBIs apiece while Brumley, Ferrell and Sigado each drove in two runs to lead the Stars at the dish.

Chase Jensen doubled to score Walker Davidson in the bottom of the first and gave OCU a 1-0 advantage over Saint Mary.

Saint Mary posted four runs in the top of the fifth and took a 4-1 lead.

Smith drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Spires answered with two more runs in the top of the sixth to stretch their lead to 6-2.

Chris Muñoz, Davidson and Rodriguez led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases. Jensen followed with a two-RBI double to left and cut the Saint Mary lead to 6-4.

One batter later, Jensen and Rodriguez scored on an error and tied the score at 6-6. Gaden followed with a pinch-hit single to left and scored Brumley to give OCU the 7-6 victory.

Dalton Bernardi allowed four runs on six hits and struck out six batters in 4.2 innings of work. Davis Henderson allowed two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings of relief and picked up the win to move to 4-0 on the season.

Jensen went 2-for-3 with three RBIs to lead OCU at the plate.

Entering this season, Crabaugh ranked second behind Woody Hunt of Cumberland (Tenn.) among active NAIA baseball coaches in wins and first in winning percentage, and OCU had the most wins in college baseball since 1991 at 1,118.

The Stars will return to action against Oklahoma Wesleyan at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Bartlesville, Okla.