It understates the situation to say that Monday was a difficult day for Oklahoma teams competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIAO baseball tournament.
Details below
It was a rough day for one Oklahoma team, which lost the opening game at Milton Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as the NAIA championship cycle got underway.
For the other squad from Oklahoma, it was a wet and storm night last night and morning, with the outcome still uncertain today.
Oklahoma Wesleyan fell to host William Carey, 6-5 on Monday.
The squad from Bartlesville had an early 2-0 lead, but that vanished in the second stanza as the Crusaders (the No.2 seed) scored five times.
The Eagles kept things interesting with a two-run uplift in the top of the fourth, but the hosts countered with one in the bottom of the sixth.
The stage seemed set for another comeback victory for the Oklahomans, and they managed a run in the top of the seventh. But that was the end of the rally, which fell short.
( https://gowcucrusaders.com/news/2024/5/13/baseball-crusaders-hold-on-to-defeat-oklahoma-wesleyan.aspx )
The Eagles came to the tournament as the No. 3 seed, falling to 40-12 after the loss.
They won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) title this year, winning every game in the championship round.
The last game in that conference tournament was a battle of the Wesleyans (athletic, not theological).
The Eagles from Oklahoma won 6-4, turning back the Coyotes from Kansas.
Oklahoma Wesleyan dominated the KCAC All-Conference team.
Junior third baseman Victor Sanchez joined graduate outfielder Joshua Logan, junior pitcher Evan Foor and junior outfielder Ravanaugh Morgan on the first team.
Junior relief pitcher Ashton Luera was named to the second, while senior pitcher Kellen Brothers was on the third team.
( https://okwueagles.com/news/2024/5/9/baseball-6-eagles-honored-as-all-conference-selections.aspx )
Oklahoma Wesleyan University also garnered the KCAC championships in softball this past season.
In the Monday baseball joust, Luke Lycette got the win for William Carey, to raise his season mark to 7-1. Evan Foor took the loss for Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Mid-America, from Oklahoma City, had the top seed against the Milligan Buffaloes (from Tennesee) in the Monday late game. As storms surged through the region, the contest between the Evangels and Milligan was suspended after six innings, with MACU trailing 3-1.
As this morning, the resolution of the game was unknown.
Mid-American Christian baseball had the institution's best season ever, this year, building to an historic Sooner Athletic Conference tile after a 12-6 victory over Oklahoma City University last week.
( https://www.citynewsokc.com/sports/mid-america-christian-thumps-ocu-for-sac-title-12-6/article_29e60964-0e79-11ef-b2ae-379e7babbfc9.html )
Oklahoma City Stars lose in Idaho
At the opening round unfolding at Lewis and Clark College in Idaho, the Oklahoma City University Stars lost a 10-3 shocker to the Arizona Christian University Firestorm.
The athletic website of our hometown (Oklahoma City) university narrated the tale succinctly, to wit:
“After neither team plated a run across in the first, Arizona Christian put up runs in the next four straight innings to go up 9-0.
“Oklahoma City got on the board for the first time with two in the fifth and one in the sixth. Aiden Alexander drove in the first two runs for the Stars with a single to center that scored Tristan Williams and Darian Duhon.
“In the sixth, OCU got its lone run on a Duhon single to right that brought in Aiden Van Rensum cutting the Firestorm lead to 9-3.
“Arizona Christian added one more run in the top of the ninth on the team's second home run of the game to which the Firestorm held on to win 10-3.”
With the loss, OCU fell to 35-17 for the season.
OCU's Zach Pike was the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Player of the year, and all-conference in two positions (shortstop and relief pitcher).
Catcher Reese Ratchford, and Trent Kiraly (who batted .374 for the season), and pitcher Kade Shatwell were All-SAC first-teamers.
Outfielder Darian Duhon was designated second-team All-SAC.
Garnering "Gold Glove" designations were Aiden Alexander and Hunter Lenochan.
Today, OCU hopes to get back on track, will taking on another Arizona school -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Prescott) in the day's first game.
Embry-Riddle lost its opening match against the British Columbia team, 5-2, on Monday morning.
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