The NAIA Baseball Series of the Week went down to the last at-bat and Oklahoma Baptist's Greg Nelson was the late-inning hero in a 4-3 win over Lubbock Christian in Sooner Athletic Conference baseball action in Shawnee Saturday.
Seventh-ranked OBU scored two times in the bottom of the ninth after giving up the lead late.
LCU, ranked 14th in the NAIA, broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Richard Bohlken doubled and scored on a single by Karl Seiter.
Mark Almaguer kept OBU off the scoreboard, stranding six base runners in the first three innings, until the fifth. With one out, Nelson singled ahead of a two-run home run by Mitchell Prophet.
OBU reliever Daniel Marti made that one-run lead stand until the eighth when Jordan Lewis scored from third on a wild throw to tie the score at 2-2. With runners at second and third, Jesus Carlos (4-1) came on and struck out Jason Fisch and got a defensive gem from third-baseman Michael Cerda to get out of the jam.
Brennyn Smith homered on the first pitch of the top of the ninth to give the Chaparrals a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Frankie Rivera walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jorden Newton walked and another Jose Gonzalez (4-2) wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third before the Bison tied the score on a third wild pitch.
Kyle Forsyth came on for the Chaps and intentionally walked Yael Colon, who took second without a throw. Nelson fought through a two-strike count and lined a single past a diving Bohlken at second for the game winner.
The Bison had nine hits in the game, including three by Nelson and two by Prophet. Smith and Bohlken paced LCU's seven-hit attack with two hits each.
The win gives OBU the tiebreaker and a two-game lead for second over Lubbock Christian (26-15, 14-8).
The Bison (34-9 overall and 16-6 in the SAC) are at Southwestern Oklahoma State Monday before hosting St. Gregory's in the Strikeout Cancer game.
