Broom Town

2/19/2012 6:38:00 PM

Jake Tuck

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

EDMOND (Feb. 19) – Jake Tuck and Ryan Wagner came through with a pair of clutch relief outings to help Central Oklahoma take a Sunday afternoon doubleheader from Northwest Missouri and complete a sweep of the four-game weekend series.

Tuck came on to get the Bronchos out a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning to secure a 3-1 first-game win, while Wagner did the same in the eighth inning of a 9-8 victory in the nightcap.

UCO improved to 8-2 with the sweep, its best 10-game start since 2008. The Bronchos are home again Tuesday, hosting Newman for a 2 p.m. single game.

“Any time you can manage a sweep it's a great team accomplishment,” head coach Dax Leone said. “Northwest is a very solid ball club and we're extremely pleased with the weekend. Our players deserve every bit of the success.”

The Bearcats took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, but UCO quickly tied it in its half of the inning when lead-off hitter Tucker Brown blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall.

Jared Wright's lead-off homer to right broke the deadlock in the second and Austin Rycroft made it 3-1 in the third with a double to left-center that scored Brown, who had started the inning with a single.

Pitching and defense did the rest as the Bronchos didn't commit an error in the game while holding NWMSU scoreless.

Edgar Lopez started and got the win, giving up just two hits and one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings while striking out eight.

Tuck came on the sixth with two outs and two runners on and gave up a single to the first batter he faced to load the bases before getting out of the jam with a strikeout. He retired the side in the seventh to earn his first save.

Brown and Rycroft had two hits apiece to pace the offense.

UCO never trailed in the series finale, but the Bearcats scored five unearned runs in staying close the whole way.

Kevin Blue had a two-run single and Jared Wright an RBI double in a four-run third that put the Bronchos in the lead, though NWMSU came back to tie it 4-4 in the fifth.

UCO went back in front with three runs in its half of that inning as Brown, Wright and Rycroft had run-scoring hits and the Bronchos led 9-5 after six innings.

The Bearcats clawed closer with two in the seventh and Wagner came entered in the eighth with no outs and two runners on. The senior lefty walked his first batter to load the bases, but then got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts and a force-out.

NWMSU got a one-out unearned run in the ninth to pull within 9-8 before Wagner closed out the game with a strikeout and fly out to pick up the save.

Brown went 3-for-4 to lead UCO's 10-hit attack, while Wright and Rycroft had two hits each.

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