GRUVER, Texas — The Oklahoma Panhandle State baseball (5-4) team adjusted well to a last-minute location change to open its series versus Randall University, playing solid baseball as it took the first two games in Gruver on Thursday, 6-5 and 7-1.
Standout performances included
Lucas De Jong's third-inning, go-ahead grand slam in game one, as well as
Miguel Montano's (2-0) complete game one-hitter in the nightcap.
Game 1: The Saints launched a pair of solo shots over the first two frames to take a 2-0 lead, though
Israel Gandara made it 2-1 in the bottom of the second with an RBI fielder's choice.
After starting pitcher
Jean Duran (1-1) pitched a clean third inning with two strikeouts, the Aggie bats got going, beginning with a leadoff double from
Zoilo Pimentel.
Philip Matos,
David Garcia and
Neugyen Culmer all drew walks as OPSU tied it, 2-2, but the big swing was yet to come as De Jong cleared the bases with a homer to center field, catapulting his team ahead, 6-2.
Duran struck out the side in the fifth inning before running into some trouble in the sixth, when
Matao Laguna was called upon to get out of a jam with Saints on the corners trailing 6-3. Laguna gave up a double but preserved the lead, and he ultimately got out of a sticky situation in the seventh, ending the game with a flyout and strikeout.
Duran's final line read 5.1 innings with an OPSU career-high 12 strikeouts, the most in nearly a calendar year for the Aggies. Laguna picked up his first save of the season without allowing any earned runs.
Alejandro Hernandez and Pimentel notched two hits and a double apiece in the opener, while De Jong had a game- and season-high four RBIs.
Game 2: A dominant start from Montano bought the Aggie bats time to heat up, as the game headed to the bottom of the fourth inning still scoreless.
David Garcia plated
Juan Perez with an RBI double in that fourth frame, before
Kobe Morgan – on to run for Garcia – came around to score on an error.
Panhandle State kept the pressure on in the fifth inning, expanding its advantage to 5-0 following a base hit by Nunez and a walk drawn by Hernandez. A couple batters later,
Philip Matos pulled a two-run home run to left, putting the Aggies firmly in control of the contest.
Randall scored one in the sixth on a homer, but OPSU countered with Perez' two-run single in the bottom of the frame. Montano finished things off with a one-two-three seventh inning for his complete game, the first for the Aggies in 2026.
Nunez had a multi-hit nightcap and scored twice, while Perez tallied a game-high three RBIs.
What's up next: Panhandle State is set to return to Carroll Gribble Field on Friday to play two more games versus Randall University starting at 12 noon.
