Oklahoma City University Athletics

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City's bats sprang to life and the defense turned in some gems as Oklahoma City forced the 'if necessary' game with a pair of wins on Wednesday.
 
OCU and British Columbia will play for the bracket championship and its accompanying berth in the NAIA World Series in a 1 p.m. showdown on Thursday.

The Stars eliminated Grand View 8-2 before handing British Columbia its first loss of the Opening Round, 16-3. The Stars had scored two runs in the two prior Opening Round games.
 
Analise Rayburn made history along the way, smacking two home runs and driving home nine to become the first NAIA player to have consecutive 100-RBI seasons.
 
OCU 8, Grand View 2
 
The Stars got on the board first when Tara Hoehner doubled home Iliana Ashford from first in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
 
Grand View got two in the first for a brief 2-1 lead but the Stars tied it in the second on an RBI double by Kaiden Spidell.
 
OCU scored three runs in the third to take the lead for good on a two-run double by Rayburn and a sacrifice fly by Peyton Barrow.
 
Rayburn added a three-run home run in the fifth inning for the final margin.
 
McKenna Snyder pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief to get the win.
 
The Stars collected 11 hits in the game, including three by Ashford and two each by Rayburn, and Gabby Moreno.
 
OCU 16, British Columbia 3
 
Oklahoma City got the lead early and answered every UBC rally for the win.
 
Spidell opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second and Rayburn clouted a two-run home run in the third for her 100^th RBI of the season in the third inning.
 
After UBC got on the board in the bottom of the third, the Stars got an RBI walk by Ashford in the fourth and an RBI double by Moreno in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.
 
OCU tacked on three in the sixth inning on RBI singles by Tara Hoehner and Barrow to go along with a sacrifice fly by Rayburn.
 
The Stars added eight runs in the seventh on two RBI singles by Hadley Gibson, an RBI single and RBI fielder's choice by Ashford, a two-run home run by Hoehner and an RBI single by Jessica Phares.
 
Every OCU starter had at least one hit in the game. The Stars had 20 hits, including three each by Gibson, Barrow and Spidell and two each by Ashford, Hoehner, Rayburn and Phares.
 
Brynlee Alsip went the distance for her 30^th win of the season, making her the first OCU 30-game winner since 2022 when Shelbey Cornelson won 37 games on the way to a national championship.
 
OCU got its 50^th win of the season.