Baseball Wins ECU Finale

March 9, 2008

ADA, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University picked up a 5-1 win Sunday in the final game of a four-game series with East Central University. The win came after SWOSU had lost three earlier games to the Tigers by scores of 6-1, 7-6 and 6-5.

The Bulldogs, now 7-13 on the year and 5-10 in the Lone Star conference, will get their next chance on the diamond Friday when they host rival Central Oklahoma in a four-game series this weekend. The UCO series will be one game Friday at 3 p.m. and a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The two teams conclude play Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.

In the 5-1 win, Chris Morrison was again up to the task for the Bulldogs. The junior right-hander improved to 4-1 on the year, tossing a seven-inning complete game. He scattered eight hits and allowed only one run and closed with three scoreless innings.

Dakota James was the offensive star for the Bulldogs collecting two hits and two RBI’s. James had RBI singles in the first and fourth as SWOSU built up a 5-0 by the midway point. James is batting .393, second on the team, since being inserted into the starting lineup seven games ago.

Caleb Cole and Moose Wathen each had a pair of hits as the Bulldogs rapped out 12 hits against two ECU pitchers.

In the earlier game Sunday, SWOSU spotted ECU a 6-2 lead after three innings before starting to chip away. Wathen’s two-out double in the eighth got the Bulldogs within one at 6-5. SWOSU could not push across any more runs despite putting runners in scoring position in the ninth.

Adam Phillips pitched well in his first action since straining and abdominal muscle earlier this year. Phillips pitched six innings of scoreless relief, taking over for starter Ty Pool in the third inning.

In the second game Saturday, Dakota Streber blasted his team-leading third homer of the year and helped put the Bulldogs to a 6-3 lead through five innings of play. ECU came back to tie the game at 6-6 in with three runs in the sixth.

The Tigers won it in the seventh when Tyler Pybas, who had a home run in the previous inning, smacked a two-out single that scored the winning run of SWOSU reliever Nathan Perez.

SWOSU lost the first game of the series 6-1 as the Bulldogs generated just five hits  off Tiger starter Chasen Bennett who went nine innings for his second win in four decisions.