The Oklahoma Panhandle State University Baseball Team started a three game series against NAIA No. 3-ranked University of Science & Arts (Okla.) with a doubleheader on Friday. The Drovers came out on top in both games, defeating the Aggies by scores of 8-1 and 4-3.

In the noon game, the Aggies were held to just five hits. Junior Chris Galvan got the first hit of the game for OPSU, extending his hit-streak to four games. Galvan has recorded a hit in 13 of the team's 16 games up to this point in the season. Senior pitcher for the Drovers, Colton Williams, who is highly regarded as one of the best pitchers in the conference, shut the Aggies out until senior Chris Schraer scored in the sixth inning off the bat of Jose Santiago.

The Drovers put up 11 hits, although only two were for extra bases. Junior Markus Bracey took the loss, going six innings and allowing six earned runs.

The second game of the doubleheader proved to be a nail-biter. Senior Blake Tucker put together one of the best outings of his career. He ended up with six and a third innings of work, giving up three earned runs and striking out six. "Coming into this series, I knew we were playing a great team, so I had to bring my best stuff," Tucker says. "I was just throwing strikes and trying to keep them off-balance." This was the second longest outing in Tucker's career, and he matched his career-high in strikeouts in a game.

USAO put up two runs in the first and the Aggies quickly answered in the second with two runs of their own. Jonathan Applebury scored on a single by Luis Dermas; a walk with bases loaded by Aaron Moreno brought in the second run. The Aggies took the lead on a wild pitch that scored Brandon Gonzalez and held that lead until a sacrifice fly from the Drovers knotted things back up at three runs apiece. 

USAO would score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch. In bottom half, OPSU threatened but would ultimately come up short as they left the tying run stranded at third. 

"Game one we competed well, we just had a few more mistakes than they did and they took advantage," says Head Coach Shawn Joy. "Game two the guys had a chance to beat one of the best teams in the nation and came very close."

The ball club's play in the first two games of the series will hopefully set the tone for the series finale on Saturday. Start-time for the single nine-inning game is scheduled for 12:00 P.M. CST.