BETHANY – There'd been four seasons since the Crimson Storm last shut out an opponent; today, that changed. Southern Nazarene (8-31, 6-26 GAC) zeroed out the Tigers (17-22, 13-19 GAC) in walk-off fashion to take Game 1 on Thursday afternoon at Feland Field. The last time SNU shut out an opponent was March 26, 2016, where the Storm beat Northwestern Oklahoma State 5-0 in Alva. However, OBU rebounded to take Game 2 by a score of 7-5.
Game 1
The tally sat scoreless until the last inning as Freshman pitcher Payne Maga dealt his way through the entire game, striking out six Tiger batters. Maga's exceptional strikeout counter was three less of his personal best of 10, which he collected a few games back. The field-play was the talk of the game as each ball club exchanged impressive plays throughout the contest.
Southern Nazarene struggled to hit all game as the Tigers piled up 12 total strikeouts. Still, the Crimson Storm bats rang true when most necessary as Eric Gutierrez brought Peyton Vinyard across home plate with a hit into right-center to, securing the win in a walk-off.
Eric Gutierrez led the way for SNU as he went 2-for-3 and collected one RBI. Cole Embrey and Clay Lockett registered two hits while Landon Walker went 1-for-3 to round off the Crimson Storm.
Payne Maga (W, 2-7) pitched the entire game, facing 32 batters and allowing just two hits.
Game 2
The exciting Baseball continued into game two as the Tigers went on a late run to take the victory, 7-5. Southern Nazarene got on the scoreboard in the 4th inning with an Eric Gutierrez double through the left side that scored Austin Glock, tying the score at 1-1. After OBU tacked on two more in the 6th, SNU turned around to tally four at the bottom of the inning, sparked by an Austin Glock double. Landon Walker then walked up to smack a three-run shot over the right-field wall, putting the Crimson Storm up 5-3. The Tigers put on a rally in the final inning and scored four to eclipse SNU.
Landon Walker finished with a home run and three RBIs while Eric Gutierrez turned in a 2-for-2 performance, bringing in one batter. Other notables were Austin Glock, who scored twice, collected an RBI, while Clay Lockett tallied two hits.
Triston Graves pitched through 6.0 innings, striking out three and allowing three runs. Concluding the work on the bump was Brett Rexroad (L, 0-6), who came in as relief and allowed three runs, and Elijah Brady, who finished out the final inning.
Southern Nazarene will be back in action tomorrow at noon for the series finale.
