OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene wrapped up the SNU/OCU Festival on Sunday with a 4-3 win over Mount Mercy, and an 11-2 loss to Oklahoma City at Jim Wade Stadium, host of the Stars.
The Crimson Storm (3-3) walk away from the festival winning two of three games, and head coach
Robert Lee hopes the competition will help prepare them for conference play which begins next weekend for SNU.
Chase Wetwiska got the start in the opener against Mount Mercy and the freshman had a solid outing, striking out five and allowing two earned runs on four hits in 6.0 complete innings.
Tyler Thompson came on in the seventh inning to relieve Wetwiska, and he earned his second win of the season, giving up just two hits in 3.0 innings of action.
Shelby Reese highlighted the Crimson Storm at the plate in the opener, as he torched the Mustangs at the dish. He finished 2-for-4 with two RBI's and the walk-off single in the ninth inning to give SNU its second straight win.
Connor Dayton and
Jarrett Phillips both went 2-for-4 at the plate as well, and each scored a run against Mount Mercy.
Garrett Perez and
Jack Campbell each finished 1-for-4 at the plate, as Perez also tallied a run scored.
A.J. Nelums went 1-for-1 at the plate with an RBI for SNU at the dish.
Southern Nazarene wasted no time in getting on the board, as Reese's sacrifice fly scored Perez in the bottom of the first to give SNU a quick 1-0 lead. The Strom added to their lead in the second inning when Nelums' sacrifice fly scored Dayton to bump their lead to 2-0. Later in the same inning, Phillips scored on an error by Mount Mercy to give the Storm its largest lead of the game at 3-0.
But the Mustangs weren't going down without a fight as they pushed a couple of runs across in the top of the third to cut the SNU lead to 3-2. Later in the fourth, Mount Mercy scored one run to tie the game 3-3. After a pitching duel that extended to nine innings, the Storm loaded the bases in the ninth where Reese's single scored
Cobi Ceron to seal the victory for Southern Nazarene.
Ryan Mills got the nod in the final game of the festival against host Oklahoma City, and he took his first loss of the season. He tossed 2.2 innings and allowed four runs, two of those earned, and struck out three while also allowing four hits. Tristan Graves and
Zach Birkle each provided an inning in relief and each struck out one batter.
Emilio Escobedo led the way at the plate for SNU as the sophomore finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Connor Dayton went 1-for-3 with an RBI, while
Jefferson Harris and
Jarrett Phillips each went 1-for-3 at the plate.
Jack Campbell also recorded a hit for the second straight game as he finished 1-for-2 at the dish.
Oklahoma City struck first in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead, but Southern Nazarene quickly responded in the bottom-half of the inning when Dayton's single scored Harris to tie the game 1-1. That lead didn't last long for the Storm as the Stars' bats exploded in the third inning for five runs to give OCU a 6-1 lead.
The Stars added two more runs in the fourth to take an 8-1 lead, and scored two more in the fifth to increase it to 10-1. SNU scored one run in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 10-2, but that's the closest the Storm came as Oklahoma City scored one more run coming home in the seventh to seal the win.
Southern Nazarene will open Great American Conference play at home next weekend as they host Northwestern Oklahoma State on Friday and Saturday at Feland Field. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.
