BATESVILLE – The Lyon College baseball team earned two walk-off wins to clinch a series win over No. 9 Oklahoma Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. The Scots won the first game of Saturday’s twin bill, 8-7, and earned a 5-4 victory in the nightcap. Lyon improved to 2-1 with the two victories, while OKWU fell to 1-2.

Game One: Lyon 8, No. 9 OKWU 7 (8 Innings)

The Scots wasted little time getting into the scoring column in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader as Kyle West put Lyon on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Lyon added another run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Ryan Clack to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.

Lyon added to its lead in the bottom of the third as Kylan Barnett reached on an error to start the inning. West got hit by a pitch in the next at-bat to put two runners on for the Scots as the pair moved up an extra 90-feet on a passed ball. Tanner Seibel came up next for the Scots and hit a ball in the hole at short. Barnett came in to score on the play as the Eagles tried to catch West advancing to third. West was able to slide in safely under the tag and put runners on the corners for the Scots. Alan West followed with an RBI ground out to push the Scots’ lead to 4-0.

OKWU rallied back to tie the game with four runs in the top of the fourth, but the Scots quickly regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Reese Chovanec reached on an error to start the inning and found his way on third base after a ground out and a single by Troy Strack. Barnett followed with an RBI single to play Chovanec and gave the Scots a 5-4 advantage.

Lyon and OKWU responded with one run each in the fifth before the score became tied at 7-7 after the Eagles put up two runs in the top of the sixth that was answered by the Scots with a run in the bottom half of the inning.

For the second game in a row, it took extra innings to decide a winner between the Scots and Eagles as the two teams played into the eighth in a game that was scheduled to be played in seven innings. Alan West started the rally for the Scots with a two-out single to left-center field before he came around to score on a walk-off double by Andrew Schnitzius.

Alan West finished 3-for-5 at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored. Schnitzius, Tristian Buschow and Chovanec all collected two hits each. The Eagles had four players finish with two hits each in the game.

Brock Beacham earned his first win of the season as he pitched two innings of scoreless relief. Beacham surrendered just one hit and two walks while striking out three. Jordan Hill was tagged with the loss as he allowed one run in 1.1 innings pitched.

Game Two: Lyon 5, No. 9 OKWU 4 (7 Innings)

Much like the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, it was the Scots to strike first in the series finale. Barnett reached on a one-out double to left before Lyon loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. Alan West gave the Scots a one-run lead with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Barnett.

The two teams traded runs between the second and third innings to tie the game at 3-3. The score remained the same until the top of the seventh inning. Brice Smith started the rally for the Eagles with a one-out single before being lifted for a pinch-runner in Kent Korenek. A wild pitch and a ground out allowed Korenek to advance to third before coming home on an error by the Scots.

Despite trailing by a run in the final inning, the Scots carried all the momentum in the game as Strack drew a lead-off walk to start the comeback. Strack found his way to third after stealing second and moving up an extra 90-feet on a balk. After a strikeout, Kyle West knotted the game at 4-4 with an RBI double down the third-base line. An intentional walk to Seibel put runners on first and second for the Scots with one away. The intentional walk brought Alan West to the plate. The freshman came up clutch for the Scots with a single to right to load the bases for Tristian Buschow. Buschow got drilled by the first pitch in his at-bat for another walk-off victory.

Alan West recorded another multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI.

Ethan Denney improved to 1-0 on the mound as he pitched three innings in relief, allowing just one run. Jacob Ficklin took the loss as he allowed the game-winning run.

The Scots will travel to No. 25 LSU-Shreveport for a single nine-inning game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

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BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Junior Kelvin Omondi unleashed a shot inside the box with under four minutes to go to score the game-winner and the John Brown University men’s soccer team solidified its second upset win in three matches with a 2-1 stunning come-from-behind win over No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan on Tuesday evening at the OKWU Soccer Pitch.

With Omondi’s fifth of the season, the Golden Eagles (3-3-0) have won three straight and set a new program record by knocking off the nation’s top-ranked opponent, a feat never before accomplished in the program’s 37-year history.

JBU is now 3-0-1 in its last four outings with the Eagles (5-1-1) with John Brown winning in its last two trips to Bartlesville, despite the hosts owning a 22-13 shooting advantage.

“I love this game and I love this team and I want to battle with this team,” said head coach Brenton Benware after the emotional victory over his alma mater. “We’re really proud having just beat the number one team in the country. We started the game a little shaky, but Adam [Holt] made some big saves for us tonight and kept us in the game.

“Ryan had a great finish for us and Kelvin, my goodness, what an incredible finish. Part of our goal for the match was getting him in behind the back line – he is very tough to defend if we can accomplish that.”

The goals came late in the contest as OKWU broke the scoreless tie in the 72nd minute when Aleksandar Simovic scampered across the 18 yard box and let go a shot to the far left post as he drifted to the right, netting his third goal of the season.

Despite the John Brown early-season scoring woes, the Golden Eagles took advantage of Wesleyan’s press after taking the lead. With more space in the midfield and attacking areas, junior Conner Haney drew a foul just outside the box in the middle 11 minutes later of back-and-forth action, prompting JBU’s specialist to take the free kick.

Williams let go a shot that maneuvered around the wall to the left side pocket past OKWU keeper Dusan Djordjev to create the match’s second tie. It was Williams’ third tally of the season.

Just four minutes later in the 87th minute, Williams played a ball from the back midfield all the way up the left wing to Omondi. After taking the ball deep into the attacking area, Omondi beat his defender one-on-one and cut into the box, unleashing an eight-yard rip, stunning the home crowd and sending the Golden Eagle bench into a frenzy.

A late push by Wesleyan was to no avail as senior Adam Holt capped off the match with nine saves on 10 chances, marking his collegiate career with an undefeated record over OKWU, and in each four times, the Eagles were ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA National Coaches’ Poll.

Holt made the saves he needed to, but also pulled out a pair of saves that kept the match scoreless twice. In the ninth minute, Simovic had a chance to put Wesleyan on the board first, but his shot, which initially sailed over Holt who came out to challenge, dropped and headed towards the open goal. Senior Steve Teshima momentarily cleared the ball off the goal line, but it was Holt who completed a near bicycle kick to stop the ball’s momentum, clearing the ball away from the goalmouth and preserving the scoreless tie.

In the 84th minute, Holt preserved a 1-1 score with a diving save to his right, again denying Simovic his second of the match, without allowing a rebound opportunity.

Holt’s nine saves sets a new season high, as his record improved to 3-3-0 on the season. Djordjev made five saves and fell to 5-1-1.

The Golden Eagles have one day to rest before welcoming Texas A&M – Texarkana to Alumni Field on Thursday at 7 p.m. It is the first meeting between the two teams in program history.

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