Baseball Sweeps St. Greg's

February 12, 2008

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University won its first baseball game of the 2008 season and quickly collected a second as the Bulldogs swept past visiting St. Gregory’s in a doubleheader Tuesday in Weatherford.

SWOSU won the first 6-4 and then took the second by a 12-2 margin. The wins improved SWOSU to 2-3 on the season and gave the Bulldogs some needed momentum going into a weekend series against Lone Star Conference favorite Abilene Christian. The four-game series is set to begin Friday weather permitting.

SWOSU won the first game thanks to a five-run fifth inning that was a result of a series of errors made by the Cavaliers. Ryan Starzenski’s RBI single scored Kenny Hare and brought the Bulldogs to within two at 4-2. With the bases loaded SWOSU’s Bow Buckner blooped a hit that fell in between the St. Gregory’s pitcher and catcher. The throw to first was wild and the Bulldogs went on to clear the bases before the Cavs could finally get a handle on the baseball.

Both Buckner and Dakota Streber were the offensive stars for SWSOU collecting three hits in as many at bats.

On the mound Nathan Perez got the win working six innings and allowing four runs, three of which were earned. Perez yielded just four hits and struck out three batters to improve his record to 1-1.

Max Grocki pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up his first save for the Bulldogs.

In the second game, Streber continued his hot hitting giving the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead with a two-RBI single in the first. Streber finished game two with two hits and three RBI’s. Though five games this year, he leads the team with a .647 batting average collecting 11 hits in 17 at bats.

SWOSU put the game out of reach with a six-run second inning that was highlighted by two-RBI hits by Buckner and Lance Scales. SWOSU led 10-2 after two innings and added two more in their half of the fourth to force a 12-2 run rule after four and one-half innings of play.

Chris Morrison got the win in his second start. He pitched five innings, allowed seven hits and gave up two runs, both of which were earned. Morrison (1-0) held the Cavs scoreless through the final three innings working out of jams in the third and fifith innings for the complete-game win.