OCU Stars Top Doane 9-4

Oklahoma City University took down Doane (Neb.) 9-4 Sunday at OKC's Jim Wade Stadium.

The Stars, ranked No. 4 in NAIA baseball, got three RBIs apiece from Cody Ferrell and Forrest Smith to drop the 23rd-ranked Tigers and move to 4-0 on the season.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Chase Jensen drove in Chris Muñoz from third base to tie the score at 1-1. Later in the inning, Jensen scored on a single off the bat of Smith to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.

After Doane evened the score in the top of the third, Ferrell tripled to left center and plated Adam Clark and Jonathan Sigado to give OCU a 4-2 lead.

A sacrifice fly by Jensen and another RBI from Smith gave the Stars a 6-2 advantage through four innings.

Smith drove in another run in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the OCU lead to 7-2. Later in the inning, Ferrell and Matt Burkett were each hit by a pitch with the bases juiced to extend the Stars' lead to 9-2.

Patrick Goelz allowed a pair of runs in the top of the seventh but was able to close the book on Doane and give OCU the 9-4 victory.

Dalton Bernardi relived starting pitcher Ryan Gibson in the third inning and tossed 3.2 scoreless innings to pick up the win and move to 1-0 on the season. Bernardi allowed two hits and struck out three batters.

Smith went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Ferrell went 1-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Stars at the dish.