Baseball Steals Win Against #11 Stars

Oklahoma City, Okla.- Sterling -10 Oklahoma City -8

Sterling baseball traveled to Oklahoma City on Feb. 21 to play against the Oklahoma City University Stars. It was a close game up until the sixth inning, where the Warriors took the lead and closed the game with a security run via home run by Jackson Kawelo.

The Warriors didn't find any luck in the first inning as no runners found first base in the opening inning. The same cannot be said of the Stars, as they plated four runs during the inning. The Warriors found their footing in the second inning after Kawelo was hit by a pitch. Kawelo advanced to second after Nicholas Keller walked and was replaced by courtesy runner James Easter. Kawelo advanced to third and Easter advanced to second after a balk. Layne Thacker singled to right field, allowing both Kawelo and Easter to score.

Another run was made by Ryan Speer in the third inning, after hitting a single and then advancing home after a double from Aaron Johnson. The Stars responded with a single run in the fourth inning. The fifth inning went quickly as both the Warriors and the Stars put up a flawless defense against each other.

It was in the sixth inning that the Warriors jumped got their offense going and jumped all over the Stars. Both Johnson and Eduardo Tarafa walked during their time to bat. Kawelo flew out to right field, allowing Johnson and Tarafa to advance one base. Keller doubled to center field and Johnson made a run home. Easter ran for Keller. With runners on second and third, Thacker grounded out to the shortstop scoring Tarafa and moving easter to third. Bisono-Rodriguez took advantage of a pinch hit opportunity knocking in Easter on a single to right center. He stole second, watched Luis Morales get hit by a pitch, stole third and watched Elvis Rumaldo walk. Then a base clearing double to right center by Speer, scoring Rumaldo, Morales, and Bisono-Rodriguez gave Sterling their first lead of the day. The Warriors ended their half of the inning with 6 runs and they took a 9-5 lead. The Stars responded with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning but didn't score another run the rest of the way.

The seventh and eighth innings were kept short, as the Warriors were low on hits. In the ninth inning, Kawelo hit a home run to add a little security, and then the Warriors made quick work of the Stars' opportunity at-bat, finishing the game at 10-8 Warriors.

Several pitchers shared the mound this game, all equally given a chance to blow away the Stars. Speer and Camrin Wleczyk each faced seven batters, while Speer gave up four runs on four hits, and Wleczyk gave up one hit. Gentry Bradbury and Dustin Chartrand each faced six batters, giving up just one hit between them and no runs. Bradbury struck out two in his two innings of play. Chris Isaac did not have his best stuff giving up four hits, and one run. Reid Heidtbrink had three strikeouts, and Tyler Duffey had one strikeout and gave one hit and three runs also allowing two walks.

This game bumps the Warriors' record up to 7-5 overall. The Warriors travel to Dallas, Texas to play a three game set against the Texas Wesleyan University Rams, the last games before conference play begins.

Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch all of the Warriors' live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.