Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Goodwell, Okla.—OPSU Baseball got one win on a weekend series with Wayne State College, starting off on Saturday with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Wildcats. The Aggies were defeated in the other three games taking a 1-13 loss in Saturday's game two, and losing 3-22 and 6-11 on Sunday.

The Aggies' lefty pitcher from Down Under, Samuel Beattie earned his second win of the season in exciting fashion Saturday, allowing just four hits and zero runs earned in the 3-0 shutout over the Wildcats. Beattie threw 13 strikeouts in 30 batters faced and gave up just one double and three singles in seven innings pitched.

A ground-out on a sac bunt and two Beattie strikeouts left the Wildcats empty after the first half inning of play. The Aggies' second batter, Payton Osbon was walked to first and proceeded to steal second to put OPSU in prime position with only one out in the bottom of the first. Joseph Cerda then stepped up with a single sending Osbon to third; Osbon would score as Cerda was caught stealing during the next at-bat. The Aggies led 1-0 through five and a half innings. It was Osbon again, who got on base in the bottom of the sixth hitting a big triple down the right side. Cerda followed up with a double to left-center for one RBI and, on two outs, Cerda was sent home on a single by Dehryan Noriega that went deep into centerfield. Beattie held off hitters, throwing three strikeouts in the top of the seventh to seal the shutout victory.

Saturday's second game did not go as smoothly for OPSU as the Aggies gave up ten hits for twelve earned runs (one un-earned), and walked ten batters in the eight-inning matchup. Wayne State opened with a double in the first off the Aggies' opening pitcher Dallas Guerrero. Guerrero went 2.2 innings and was relieved by senior Logan Litton in the third after allowing four runs to the Wildcats. Litton lasted 3.2 innings and threw three strikeouts in 16 batters faced; he gave up three hits for four runs (three earned) during his time on the mound.

The Aggies put up one run in the third as first-baseman Derek Stallworth led off the bottom half of the inning with a single to right field. Stallworth stole second and moved to third on a single by Tiler Fletcher. Back to the top of the order, Quinn O'Neill stepped up with a single to load the bases and Stallworth was able to score on a groundout to second base to add the first run for OPSU. The score remained 1-4, Wildcats, through the sixth inning. Wayne State added three runs on a triple off Litton in the top of the seventh prompting another pitching change for the Aggies; senior Scott Cutright came in with one out and a runner on third. The third base runner scored on a sac fly before the final out of the inning increasing the Wildcat lead to 8-1. A long eight inning brought three more pitching changes for OPSU and ten WSU batters to the plate. Five batters were walked, two hit by pitch and five runs scored for Wayne State to end the game early with a twelve run win by the Wildcats (13-1). Travis Huffine, Josh Gordon and Jonny Mireles each saw time on the mound in the eighth for the Aggies. Guerrero took the loss on the game.

Jordan Ankrum got the start in game one on Sunday and took the loss in 3.2 innings giving up nine hits and eight runs (seven earned); three in the first, one in the third and four in the fourth. Joel Perez relieved Ankrum with one out in the sixth and stayed in through the fifth batter of the fifth inning. Perez allowed seven hits for seven earned runs while on the mound. Chance Jones relieved Perez with zero outs and bases loaded; Jones gave up one hit and three earned runs before the final pitching change for OPSU brought out Felipe Beltran. Beltran stayed in the final three innings and gave up four hits and four earned runs.

The Aggies managed three runs in Sunday's first game, the first came in the bottom of the second inning on a double by Austin Beckner; the final two runs came in the third as Fletcher scored on a wild pitch and O'Neill crossed home on an RBI single by Daniel Blake. The Aggies totaled six hits and left six runners on base in the game.

In the fourth game of the series OPSU sent Tristan Hubler to the bump as the Aggies' starting pitcher. Hubler threw four innings and faced 23 batters who took eight hits for eight runs to put the Aggies down 8-1 after the first three innings. Payton Osbon scored OPSU's first run on a sac fly in the first inning. Zane Grigsby entered the game in the top of the fifth and held the Widcats to just one hit and zero runs through two innings. Meanwhile the Aggies scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth on a fielding error and wild pitch by Wayne State, and the Wildcats added three more in the top of the seventh to pull ahead 11-4 with pitcher Edward Lopez in for the Aggies. OPSU had five runners walked and one stolen base to help add two final runs in the seventh; not enough to come out on top.

For the series the Aggies batted at .235 and their opponents held a .366 batting average. WSU's pitchers combined for a 3.86 ERA, while the OPSU crew was taken for a total of 48 hits and 44 earned runs. Seven Aggie pitchers combined for 27 strikeouts, 13 of which came from the hands of Beattie, who held his batters to a .167 average and a 0.00 ERA. Cody Dion brought through a team-high of three RBI and Joseph Cerda led the Aggie hitters going four of nine with two doubles and two runs scored. The Aggie defense committed 11 errors on the weekend, while Wayne State came through clean with just one error.

The Aggies are back in business with a mid-week matchup against Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Wednesday, March 2. The nine-inning game is set for 1 p.m.