WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Three SWOSU pitchers combined to allow just three hits and one run as the Bulldogs defeated Oklahoma Christian 5-1 on Tuesday afternoon at the Athletic Complex in Weatherford.
The Bulldogs got a strong start out of Jose Laboy, who went 5.0 innings and allowed two hits with one strikeout to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard. OC had their best chance to score in the second inning, when an error and a single moved runners to the corners before Laboy got a groundout and ended the threat. OC would also get runners on against Laboy in the third and fourth innings, but they would never advance past first base.
While Laboy was strong on the mound, the Bulldogs offense slowly built a lead for him to pitch with. The scoring started in the second inning when Jason Nichols and Brady Burtner both drew walks before Nichols came across to score on an RBI single from Robert Perea with two outs. Chase Duncan drew a walk in the third and moved into scoring position on a single from Alex Pimentel before scoring to make it 2-0 on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Brooks Benson.
The score would stay at 2-0 until the seventh inning, when Oklahoma Christian got their lone run of the game on a solo home run off of Brooks Pond. Pond pitched the sixth and seventh frames, allowing just the one hit while retiring each of the other six batters he faced. SWOSU quickly got the run back as Pimentel smoked a double down the left field line, which easily allowed Bryan Miranda to score from second and make it 3-1.
Garret Gaunt took to the hill for the eighth inning and made quick work of the Eagles in the final two innings, retiring all six batters he faced – including three on strikeouts. For his efforts, Gaunt picked up his first save of the season. SWOSU added two insurance runs for Gaunt in the bottom of the eighth innings on a two-run home run by Miranda, his third of the season.
SWOSU (16-11) will now head on the road for the first time in Great American Conference play this weekend and take on the current league-leaders of Arkansas-Monticello in a three-game conference series. Friday's first game is set for first pitch at 3:00 pm in Monticello.
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