WICHITA - The Newman baseball team ended the home portion of its season in record breaking fashion, and picked up a three-game sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State Friday and Saturday at McCarthy Field.

Ryan Peterson and Brandon Cox were the record breakers in the series. Peterson become one of just 10 players in NCAA Div. II history to record three hits in a single inning as part of a 16-run fourth inning in Friday's nightcap, Cox, meanwhile, broke a Newman record by drilling four doubles in Saturday's 14-6 win over OPSU in Saturday's series finale.

Game 1: Newman 12, OPSU 10 (Friday, April 23)
Newman gave up an early lead in the third inning, and trailed as late as the bottom of the sixth, but a four-run sixth inning pushed the Jets past the Aggies for the 12-10 win.

After giving up a run in the top of the first, Newman took advantage of a mixed bag of OPSU errors, to take a 2-1 lead into the second inning. Ryan Peterson opened the inning by reaching on a throwing error from third base, then advanced to second on a balk. Another error at thrid base advanced Peterson to first, and put Brandon Cox on first base. That's when Picos Soto drilled a double to right-center field, allowing both Peterson and Cox to score, and giving the Jets a one-run advantage.

Newman added another run in the second with a Trent Bierman solo home run to left field, giving the Jets a 3-1 lead after two inning.

The Aggie bats came alive in the third. OPSU opened the inning with a solo home run, and added three more runs on four more hits to claim a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the third.

The Jets responded with a run in the home half of th third, but the Aggies added three more runs in the fourth and took an 8-4 edge. Again, Newman countered with a two-run fourth, but again OPSU had an answer, this time in the form of its own two-run outing in the fifth. Not to be out-done, the Jets added two more runs in the fifth, and narrowed the OPSU lead to 10-8 with two innings remaining.

For the first time since the second inning, the Jets kept the Aggies off the board in the sixth, and took advantage in the home half of the frame. Kori Melo opened the inning by reaching on a fielding error at shortstop, and moved home when Peterson sent a batted ball over the left field fence to tie the game at 10-10. A Cox walk and a Soto single gave the Jets runners on second on third with nobody out. Cox cashed in on a Scot Palmer single to shortstop, while Soto scored on a Mike Williams single that gave the Jets the 12-10 advantage they held on to win by.

Soto finished three-for-three at the plate in the series opener, adding two runs and two RBI to lead the Jets. Reliever Eric Hansen picked up his third win of the season, holding the Aggies without a run, and giving up just three hits in 1.2 innings of work to improve to 3-3.

Brian Johnson was hit with the loss for OPSU, giving up two earned runs on three hits in an inning of work.

Game 2: Newman 21, OPSU 2 (Friday, April 23)
A 16-run fourth inning turned a competitive game into a blowout in Friday's nightcap, as the Jets rode 19 hits and five OPSU errors to a 21-2 win to complete the doubleheader sweep.

Newman opened the scoring with a four-run second inning. Scot Palmer opened the inning with a single up the middle, and Mike Williams became Newman's second base runner of the inning when he was hit by a pitch. A Trent Bierman bunt forced Williams out at second, but gave the Jets runners on first and third with just one out. Matt Cardona's single allowed Palmer to score and moved Bierman to third. Newman added two more hits and three more runs, and took advantage of two wild pitches to take a 4-0 run after two innings.

OPSU tried to crawl back into the game in the fourth, but Newman eliminated all hope of an Aggie comeback in the home half of the fourth. After opening the inning with three straight hits and a walk, every Newman batter that stepped into the batter's box reached base the first time through the lineup, and each one scored, all before the Aggies could record an out. The first three batters of Newman's second trip through the lineup also reached base, before Picos Soto flied out to left field for the Jets first out of the inning. By that time, 12-straight Jets had reached base. Four more Newman batters reached base in the inning to complete the second trip through the line-up. Kori Melo flied out to center field on his third at-bat of the inning, setting up Peterson's opportunity to mak NCAA history, and he did just that. With a single to left field, Peterson became one of just 10 batters in NCAA Div. II history to record three hits in a single inning. Peterson was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, but he had already taken his place in the NCAA record books. When the dust settled in the fourth inning, the Jets had recorded 16 runs on 10 hits and four errors.

Both teams added a single run in the sixth, but by that time the Jets had the game well in hand, and cruised to the 21-2 win.

Peterson finished five-for-six at the plate with three runs scored and five runs batted in to lead the Jets offensively. Mike Williams picked up his second win of the season, improving to 2-2 after allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in six innings of work. In all, 19 players saw action for the Jets in the win.

Cale Rice was saddled with the loss for OPSU. Rice gave up 11 earned runs on 12 hits while walking three and striking out one in three innings of work.

Game 3: Newman 14, OPSU 6 (Saturday, April 24)
A late-inning rally allowed the Jets to complete the series sweep with a 14-6 win over OPSU Saturday afternoon.

Panhandle State made the first move in Saturday's single game. The Aggies opened the third inning with five-straight singles on their way to five runs on six hits, and took a 5-0 lead into the fourth inning.

OPSU starter Swenton Martina kept the Jets off the board until the fifth inning, when Newman notched two runs on three hits, including Brandon Cox's second single of the game. After five innings, the Jets had cut the OPSU lead to three, and trailed 5-2.

The run total increased for the Jets in each remaining inning. Newman added three runs in the sixth, four in the seventh, and capped their scoring with a five-run eighth inning on their way to the 14-6 win.

The big story of Saturday's game was Brandon Cox, who became the first Newman baseball player to record four doubles in a game. Cox finished four-for-four at the plate, with a run scored and four runs batted in.

Logan Clewes picked up the win in Saturday's game, moving to 3-2 after allowing one earned run on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts in three innings of relief. OPSU's Swenton Martina was hit with the los, giving up 10 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits in seven innings of work.

With the sweep, the Jets improve to 24-25 overall, and 22-21 in Heartland Conference play, while OPU falls to 11-38 overall, and 8-35 in Heartland Conference play. Newman concludes its season Friday, traveling to Odessa, Texas, to take on Texas-Permian Basin