BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene Baseball team (7-30, 5-25 GAC) concluded their GAC series with Oklahoma Baptist (23-12, 20-10 GAC) in a split on the final day by scores of 29-5 and 10-8 on Saturday afternoon at Feland Field. In today's senior ceremonies, 11 seniors were recognized for their efforts towards the SNU baseball team over the last four seasons.
Game 1
SNU came into Game 1 of the with a lot of energy in the midst of the senior day festivities as
EJ Taylor popped the game off with a solo shot over the left-field wall, putting the Storm up 1-0. The Bison scored four in the 2
nd inning and then
Elijah Brady put another score on the board as his single into right-center brought
Landon Walker across home plate.
Oklahoma Baptist quickly put a roadblock in front of the Crimson Storm as the Bison went on a 10-0 run in the 3
rd inning, bringing the tally to 14-4 going to the 4
th. The score sat silent until the 6
th when the Bison went on another scoring rampage, piling on 15 more runs. SNU's last score came by way of a
Clay Lockett solo shot over the right center wall.
Clay Lockett was the most efficient for SNU as he led off and turned in a 3-for-4 performance. Lockett homered once and scored another time in today's effort.
Eric Gutierrez and
Landon Walker each went 1-for-2 and duo crossed the plate one time apiece.
EJ Taylor's only hit on the day came by way of a homerun, his sixth of the season. Three others;
Elijah Brady,
Connor Pasby, and
Jarrett Phillips collected a hit for the Storm today.
SNU's bullpen struggled as seven pitchers took the mound against OBU.
Brett Rexroad (0-5) was credited in today's loss as he pitched through 2.0 innings, striking out two and allowing 10 runs.
Zach Birkle clocked the most time on the bump today as he struck out two batters and allowed three runs through 3.1 innings of action. Other notables were
Jarrett Phillips,
Lance Cotter, and
Kasen Jackson who each struck a batter out.
Jacob Owen and
Brandon Rezek also made appearances today.
Game 2
Southern Nazarene saved their best work for the finale as they racked up runs early, most in part by Senior
Brian Brown who smacked a grand slam over the left field wall. The scoring started in 1
st when a Jarett Phillips single scored
Clay Lockett.
Brian Brown turned around to double to right center and send
EJ Taylor across home plate. The inaugural inning's scoring was concluded with a Brown score off an
Eric Gutierrez single to left center, tallying the score at 3-0.
The Crimson Storm added to their lead in the 2
nd with a
Cole Embrey score off a Taylor single to third, putting SNU up 4-0. Southern Nazarene dug deep in their bag to as they piled on five more runs in the 4
th to build a 9-4 lead.
Peyton Vinyard sparked the scoring as he crossed home plate, courtesy of a Taylor single to second base. T hen with the bases loaded,
Brian Brown walked up to the disc to blast a grand slam over left field.
SNU's scoring concluded with
EJ Taylor singling to center and sending
Cole Embrey. The Bison began to mount a comeback, but
Elijah Brady took the mound late in the 7
th to strikeout two batters and save the win.
Brian Brown led SNU with a grand slam and five RBIs, hitting on two of his four attempts. Brown also scored twice on the day.
EJ Taylor's field play and work at the plate was perfect as he turned in a 4-for-4 performance, collecting three RBI's in his outing.
Cole Embrey went 2-for-3 with two scored runs while
Eric Gutierrez finished with two hits out of three attempts and scored once.
Clay Lockett had an efficient outing as he went 2-for-3 and score twice while
Jarrett Phillips batted in one runner in the contest.
Colby Entwistle rounded up the work with two hits and a scored run.
Triston Graves held the bump down for as long as he could, pitching through 6.1 innings, striking out three, and allowing eight runs. Graves' win today brings his season record to 3-7.
Elijah Brady came in as relief in the 7
th and saved the game as he struck out two batters.
Southern Nazarene will look to build off today's victory as they will compete in their last series of the year against Ouachita Baptist (16-21, 12-18 GAC), starting on Thursday at 3:00 p.m.
