WICHITA- The Newman baseball team clinched its first series sweep of the season with 7-4 and 6-5 victories over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Field. Kyle Burkhardt notched his first victory of the season in Game 1, striking out six batters in five and two-thirds innings pitched, while Jace Moore led the Jets offensive effort in Game 2, with a three-for-four performance, driving in two runs.
Game 1 - Newman 7, OPSU 4
Newman (4-4, 4-4 Heartland) started the game like most ball clubs want to in the first inning. Terrell Brown reached base after being hit by a Daulton Perry pitch with one out. Brown stole second to put himself in scoring position before Ruben Marrero drove Brown in with an RBI single, advancing David Longmore to second. Corey Cowan became the second batter of the inning to be hit with a Perry pitch, setting the scene for Jerrod Flax. The freshman from Fort Collins, Colo. didn't disappoint, and belted a single to drive in Longmore and Marrero to give Newman a 3-0 lead.
Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-8, 0-5 HC) wouldn't bow down. In the top of the third, Thomas McGuckin led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. McGuckin advanced to third on a Schuyler Carter groundout. Jordan Bernial drove McGuckin in following a single up the middle. Tyler Patterson plated McGuckin after pulling a Burkhardt pitch to right field for an RBI single. Burkhardt loaded the bases after he hit Colton McKithan with a fastball. A Jordan Ollenberger passed ball allowed Bernal to score, and cut the Jets' lead to 3-2, but Burkhardt willed himself out of the jam when he induced Freezy Smalls into a line out to second base.
Newman gave itself a bit of breathing room in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jerrod Flax opened the inning by reaching base after a Dillon Doucette error. An Ollenberger bunt pushed Flax to second, when OPSU's Bo Ybarra couldn't convert the out. Ben Wagner advanced Flax and Ollenberger to third and second when he was hit by a Perry pitch. A passed ball by Ybarra scored Flax and put Ollenberger and Wagner in scoring position for Tanner Vinson, whose two-RBI single pushed the Newman lead to 6-2 after four innings.
The Aggies responded half-an-inning later, tagging Newman starter Kyle Burkhardt for two hits, which led to an Aggie run, and kept OPSU within 6-3.
The Jets rounded out their scoring effort in the bottom half of the fifth. Marrero opened the frame by becoming Perry's fourth hit-batsmen of the day. Tyler Hancock's ground-out advanced Marrero to third, and Corey Cowan drove him in one batter later, with an RBI single through the left side to increase the Newman lead to 7-3.
OPSU could only muster one more run off of Burkhardt following a McGuckin single to score Martin Morales from second. Jace Moore replaced Burkhardt and slammed the door on the Aggies, pitching 1.1 innings without giving up a hit, and struck out two batters to secure the 7-4 Newman victory.
Game 2 - Newman 6, OPSU 5
The second game of the doubleheader turned out to be a slugfest. After being shut down in Game 1 of the doubleheader, Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-9, 0-6 HC) drew first blood in the top of the first, notching a run on one hit off of Newman starter Jacob Furr, and took a 1-0 advantage after its first at bat.
Newman (5-4, 5-4 HC) struck back in the bottom of the second. Corey Cowan reached first on an error. Jerrod Flax followed by being hit with a Justin Freer pitch, before an RBI single from Jace Moore drove in Cowan, and tied the game at 1-1 after two innings.
The Aggies scrapped back half-an-inning later, taking a 2-1 lead in their half of the third, but Newman had an answer in its next at bat. Tanner Vinson led off the bottom of the third with a walk, before Terrell Brown reached on an error by McGuckin. A David Longmore double drove Vinson in, and advanced Brown to third. Brown then scored on a passed ball, and gave Newman a 3-2 lead after three innings.
The Jets shut the door on the Aggies in the bottom of the fifth. Brown started the inning with a single through the left side, and advanced to third on a David Longmore single. Marrero drove Brown in with another base hit, before Tyler Hancock's RBI single scored Vinson. A Jace Moore single through the right side plated the Jets third run of the frame, and gave Newman a 6-2 lead.
OPSU's last gasp came in the top of the seventh. Senior Ashton Hoffman came in to relieve starter Jacob Furr who scattered three hits, allowing two earned runs, while striking out seven Aggies. Freezy Smalls led off the half-inning with a single up the middle. Hardegree advanced Smalls to second with a single through the right side. A Schuyler Carter sacrifice bunt put Hardegree in scoring position. Curtis Noel drove in Smalls, and a McGuckin RBI single drove in Hardegree. Anthony Gonzales replaced Hoffman, but a balk by Gonzales scored Noel, and pulled the Aggies to within 6-5.
Gonzales pitched 1.2 innings, notching two strikeouts and putting Gage Daniels in position for a save. Daniels secured his third save of the season with a bases-loaded strikeout in the bottom of the ninth, and the Jets secured the 6-5 victory.
The sweep marks the fourth-straight victory for the Jets. Newman returns to the diamond on Feb. 21 when they travel to Edmond, Okla. to face Central Oklahoma. First-pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
---www.newmanjets.com--
