USAO Cruises to Their Fifth SAC Tournament Championship in Program History

CHICKASHA, Okla. – Monday afternoon, the No. 3 seeded University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (34-18, 18-9 SAC) claimed their fifth Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a dominant 11-1 victory against No. 1 Wayland Baptist University (39-17, 22-5 SAC). The game was called in the top of the sixth as a light rain turned heavier, making the field unplayable for the remainder of the day.

With the win, the Drovers are now 50-16 against the Pioneers all-time, dating to March 2007. Furthermore, USAO has emerged victorious in 32 of their last 35 meetings. The conference rivals faced each other six times this season, with USAO having won four, while WBU has won two. The Drovers won the regular season series 2-1, followed by a 2-1 advantage in three matchups in the tournament. In the six meetings, USAO outscored WBU 44-34.

The Drovers have clinched an automatic bid into the NAIA national tournament, their ninth consecutive appearance in the tournament, as well as the 11^th in program history.

WBU clinched an automatic bid in the tournament by winning the SAC regular season championship. The NAIA Opening Round will take place from May 12-15, and the Drovers will find out where they will be playing on Wednesday during the NAIA Selection Show at 4:00 PM CT. 

On Monday, the Pioneers scored their only run in the top of the first inning, but the Drovers responded with 11 unanswered runs over the next five innings. USAO plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Peyton McDowall. They added one more run in the second as Ian Ortiz hit a sacrifice-fly, scoring Ricky Requejo. Ortiz drove in two more runs in the fourth inning, stretching the lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the fifth, Nolan Herchock put the last nail in the coffin with a grand slam in the senior's final at bat at Bill Smith Ballpark. 

As a team, the Drovers produced eight hits and reached the bases on six walks, while the Pioneers tallied four hits and drew one free pass. WBU committed one fielding error, while USAO was perfect on defense.   

Peyton McDowall paced the Drover offense with a 2-3 performance that included his 14^th homer of the season, as well as two runs scored and three runs batted in. In his 207 games in the green and gold, the veteran slugger owns a .363 batting average with 260 hits, 61 doubles, six triples, 58 home runs, 219 runs scored, and 229 runs batted in. 

Nolan Herchock launched a grand slam in his only at bat of the game, his fifth longball of the season. Ian Ortiz drove in three runs and finished the game 1-3 with a double. Gunnar Hansen went 1-2 with a walk and a run batted in, while Devin Alvarez went 1-2 with a walk and a run scored. The RBI for Hansen was the 100^th of his impressive career at USAO.

Corey Morro finished 1-2 with a run scored, and Ricky Requejo went 1-3 with two runs scored. Gage Ninness drew three walks as the Drovers leadoff batter.

Kyler Denton got the start on the mound for USAO and pitched 4.0 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and he struck out a batter, improving his record to 4-2 this season. In his two-year career as a Drover, Denton has produced a 13-3 record and has fanned 77 batters in 109.2 innings of work. 

Bode Brooks pitched a scoreless fifth inning and struck out a pair of batters. 

The tournament championship is the first for USAO Head Coach Tyle Hankins and improves his record to 141-71(.665). Hankins took over as Head Coach in the summer of 2021, when Mike Ross became the Athletic Director at USAO. Hankins joined the Drovers in 2019 as assistant coach and has been vital to one of the most successful stretches in program history. He has now led the squad to the NAIA Baseball National Championship tournament in all four seasons at the helm. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers now await the NAIA Selection Show on Wednesday, May 7 at 4:00 PM CT. The NAIA Opening Round will take place from May 12-15.

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