OCU Athletics
Rich Tortorelli, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University prevailed 14-11 over Oklahoma Wesleyan on Wednesday at Jim Wade Stadium in a battle of NAIA baseball teams ranked in the top 15.
Caleb Davis pounded the go-ahead two-run home run, while John Anthon nailed a two-run shot for the winning runs for OCU. The fifth-ranked Stars (29-4) hit a season-high seven homers.
Oklahoma Wesleyan, ranked 13th, hit five homers on the day. John Lantigua nailed a second-inning grand slam to put Oklahoma Wesleyan (23-6) ahead 8-1.
Davis culminated a 13-pitch at-bat by crushing a two-run blast beyond the left-field wall. OCU led 11-9 with two out in the seventh. Anthon hammered a two-run homer over the right-center field wall to put the Stars ahead 13-9.
OCU erased a 9-8 deficit with five runs in the seventh. Bryson Lierletied the game with a run-scoring single to right.
The Stars rallied as Quinton Walbergh hit his second homer of the day in the second. Walbergh’s two-run shot to left cut OCU’s deficit to 8-5 in the second. Walbergh hit a solo homer in the first to give the Stars their first run of the game.
Tyler Williams and Lierle belted back-to-back homers in the third. Lierle’s solo shot to left sliced Oklahoma Wesleyan’s advantage to 8-7. Anthon’s first homer of the game knotted the score at 8-8 with two out in the third.
Anthon, a junior from Dublin, Calif., posted a 3-for-3 outing with three runs scored and three runs knocked in, while Williams, a junior from Peoria, Ariz., went 3-for-5 and scored twice with two RBIs.
Davis, a junior from Yukon, Okla., drove in two runs and scored twice as part of 2-for-4 performance, and Walbergh, a senior from Edmond, Okla., went 2-for-5, reached home plate three times and had three RBIs. Lierle, a junior from Altus, Okla., turned in a 2-for-4 day with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Justin Berry collected his first victory with OCU. Berry, a junior left-hander from Union City, Calif., struck out two in two innings of work. Chris Goldston came through with four innings of relief. Goldston, a freshman right-hander from Leedey, Okla., fanned five while allowing three hits.
Tanner Andrews, a senior righty from Asher, Okla., sewed up the win by striking out the side in the ninth. Andrews struck out all three batters on called third strikes.
Oklahoma City faces another test in a Sooner Athletic Conference weekend series at Texas Wesleyan. The Stars meet 17th-ranked Texas Wesleyan at 3 p.m. Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.