USAO’s Season Brought to a Close in the NAIA Opening Round Championship Game

LINCOLN, Neb. – Wednesday afternoon, the No. 3 seed University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (36-18, 17-7 SAC) split a double-header against Mount Mercy University and Southeastern University. The Drovers advanced to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round championship game with a 4-2 win against No. 4 MMU, but had their season ended with an 11-2 loss against No. 1 SEU.

-GAME 1 vs MMU (34-22, 23-9 HAAC)-

The Drovers got off to a good start and claimed an early lead with two runs in the top of the second inning, courtesy of RBI-singles from Gavin Machado and Ben Lawson.

The Mustangs pulled within one with a run in the bottom of the second inning. 

USAO extended the lead to 4-1 with two more runs in the top of the fourth inning with a walk and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. 

Mount Mercy scored their final run in the bottom of the seventh inning but were unable to add any more runs to overcome the deficit, and thus were eliminated from the tournament.

The Drovers concluded the contest with 15 hits and drew three walks, while the Mustangs tallied eight hits and five walks. USAO was perfect on defense, while MMU committed one fielding error. 

Ian Ortiz and Ben Lawson led the Drovers at the plate with a pair of three-hit performances. Ortiz scored two runs and Lawson drove in one run. 

Peyton McDowall concluded 2-5 with a double and a run scored, while Devin Alvarez went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored. 

Gabriel Arroyo, Christopher Martinez, and Gavin Machado each singled and drove in a run. Gage Ninness also delivered a single in the win. 

Jared Adams got the start on the mound for USAO and improved his record to 5-4 as he delivered 6.2 strong innings of work. Adams surrendered just two runs on six hits, while striking out three batters. Tristan Perry struck out one batter as he relieved Adams for 0.2 innings. Rob Schmidt earned his fifth save of the season as he delivered 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and he struck out three batters.

-GAME 2 vs SEU (51-6, 22-2 SUN)-

The Fire wasted no time claiming the lead, bringing across two runs in each of the first five innings to claim a comfortable 10-0 advantage. USAO scored their first run in the bottom of the fifth on Ben Lawson's sixth home run of the season. 

SEU scored their final run in the top of the seventh, prior to the Drovers scoring their final run on Ryan Duncan's RBI-single in the bottom of the seventh. 

The Drovers concluded the contest with seven hits and drew five walks, while the Fire tallied 17 hits and reached on a pair of USAO fielding errors. 

Peyton McDowall led the Drovers at the plate, going 2-3 with a walk. Ben Lawson finished 1-4 with a homer. Gage Ninness, Gabriel Arroyo, Ryan Duncan, and Ben Bach each singled.  

Seven different Drovers made an appearance on the mound for USAO. Brian Ereu got the start and was relieved by Megumi Fukuda after 1.0 inning of work. Fukuda went 1.2 iinnings prior to being relieved by JD Prather for 1.1 innings. Kyler Denton delivered 1.0 inning, followed by Alden Norquist for the next 2.0 innings. Hagen Earls and Naton Herchock each delivered scoreless innings of work over the final two innings of action.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers will now head into the offseason and prepare for the 2025 season. 

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