Baseball | 2/9/2020 11:15:00 AM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Oklahoma Panhandle State University Baseball Team started a four-game series against the Southern Nazarene University Storm on Saturday, dropping a doubleheader at Putnam City High School Field. The Aggies (1-5) fought hard but ultimately fell short by scores of 7-1 and 9-7.
 
OPSU was neck-and-neck with the Storm through four innings in the early game. After allowing a run in the bottom of the first, the Aggies answered in the top of the second. Sophomore JJ Vaught drove in Parker Boles on a base hit to right field, tying the score 1-1. Vaught ended the game 1-for-2 and the team's lone RBI for the game.
 
Senior Blake Tucker allowed only three hits in the first three innings, before the Storm broke through in the fourth with five runs and four hits. Errors cost the Aggies in the inning, as two of the five runs came across as unearned.
 
Tucker finished with a line of 5.0 innings of work, three earned runs, and one strikeout. Senior Charlie Marini came on in relief, closing out the sixth inning with a strikeout.
 
SNU out-hit the Aggies 9-4, with one hit apiece from Luis Rodriguez, Jose Santiago, Vaught, and a pinch-hit single in his first collegiate plate appearance from Bryson Hackley.
 
In second game, the Aggie offense came alive in the early innings, spearheaded by the all-conference junior Rodriguez. In the first two innings, Panhandle put up six runs and Rodriguez's three-run homerun sparked the second-inning rally. Hits from Chris Schraer, Markus Bracey, Jose Santiago, and Jonathan Applebury bolstered the Aggie offense.
 
However, Southern Nazarene answered quickly with a four-run third, putting up a crooked number after an Aggies' bolt of offense. The Storm, in total, put up nine runs on only five hits in the game, taking advantage of walks allowed by the Panhandle pitching staff. OPSU issued eight free passes to the Storm. Nicholas Virdo took the loss going 2.1 innings while giving up six earned runs.
 
A bright spot for Aggie Head Coach Shawn Joy was the relief outing by senior Austin Horak. Horak delivered 3.0 innings, allowing one earned run, while striking out three.
 
Rodriguez and Schraer both finished with multiple hits. Rodriguez finished 2-dor-3, with the homer and three runs batted in. Schraer was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base.
 
"The guys fought hard," said Joy. "We just made a few more mistakes than they did. Once we put it all together, it will be fun to watch."
 
Panhandle State finishes their series with Southern Nazarene with a doubleheader Sunday in Bethany, Okla., starting at 1 p.m.