WICHITA – The Newman baseball team split a Heartland Conference doubleheader with Oklahoma Christian on Friday (March 27) at McCarthy Field. The Jets rolled to a 7-2 win in game one, and then their late rally fell short in game two, 14-11. NU moved to 13-13 on the season.
Newman 7, Oklahoma Christian 2
The Jets roughed up OC's ace pitcher, Dillon Endecott, who came into today's game with a 0.77 ERA, the second best in the conference. NU totaled 10 hits and six runs, all earned, off Endecott.
After allowing two runs in the first inning, the Jets totaled six runs in the second through fourth innings. In the second, NU plated one run on an
Aaron Mack double down the line to score
Garett Thomas.
The Jets gained a 5-2 lead with four runs in the third inning.
Andrew Standish started the scoring with a double to left field to bring home both
Tyler Bugner and
Tyler Evans.
Alex Lator singled to make it 4-2 to plate Standish. The lead grew to 5-2 with a single from Mack.
NU's offense kept rolling with one run in the fourth inning. Bugner singled through the infield to bring in
Jarrod Flax to increase the the Jet advantage to 6-2.
In the sixth inning, Lator doubled to make it 7-2. Bugner scored again on the RBI double from Lator.
Lucas Schauer pitched a complete game 7 innings. He allowed only two runs on five hits with three strikeouts. The Wichita native moved to 5-2 on the season.
Bugner finished at 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Evans went 3-for-4. Mack was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Lator was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Seven Jets totaled hits.
Oklahoma Christian 14, Newman 11
NU fell behind 14-2 in game two, but scored nine consecutive runs to end the game at 14-11.
OC started with two runs in the second inning. A double down the line plated one run, and the lead grew to 2-0 with a sac fly.
In the third inning, the Eagles scored four runs. The first run of the inning scored on a groundout then three more runs scored on singles, all through the left side of the infield. The four runs made it 6-0 OC.
The Jets finally got on the scoreboard in the third inning with a Lator RBI groundout. Standish scored on the play. Mack singled up the middle to plate Thomas for a 6-2 score after three innings.
In the fourth inning, OC added four more runs for a 10-2 advantage. With the bases loaded, a single to right field scored one run and then another singled plated two more runs for a 9-2 edge. Another single brought in another run for the 10-2 score after four innings.
Two runs for the Eagles scored in the fifth inning, however, both were due to NU miscues. NU committed two errors in the inning.
The Eagles scoring ended in the seventh inning with a two-RBI single to make it 14-2.
NU totaled nine runs in the final three innings with the Jets scoring four runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
Andrew Shock hit an RBI single to score Thomas to start the run.
Brian Canfield brought in two runs after what should have been a RBI groundout turned into an OC error that allowed two runs to score.
Lucas Norton grounded out to score Canfield for a 14-6 score after seven innings.
Five straight walks in the eighth inning allowed NU to score two runs for a 14-8 score. With the bases still loaded, Norton singled to left for one run, and Flax hit an infield single to pull NU to within four runs at 14-10.
Needing four runs in the bottom of the ninth, NU plated only one to come up short. Bugner led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position when he stole second base. Standish put runners at the corners with a single to center field. Thomas hit a sac fly to left field for the 14-11 score. The game ended with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Jets finished with 14 hits coming from 10 different players. Standish was 3-for-5, and Flax went 3-for-6 with one RBI.
The three-game series ends tomorrow (March 28) at 1 p.m. at McCarthy Field. Live stats and audio will be available.
