Central Oklahoma Ends Classic With Shutout Victory

Central Oklahoma won the Edmond First Pitch Classic 7-0 against East Central on Monday night at Wendell Simmons Field. UCO is now 2-2 after the 14-game festival to start the 2025 season. The Bronchos rebounded from losing their first two games with back-to-back wins on Sunday and Monday. “We’ll take this weekend and learn from it,” UCO head baseball coach John Martin said.

Monday’s game against ECU had the makings of a pitcher’s duel early on. Caleb Burchfield, the starter for Central Oklahoma, threw five shutout innings and allowed only three hits. ECU managed one in the first, third, and fourth innings, but by the fifth inning, Burchfield was striking out his fourth batter of the night and heading to the dugout with a 1-0 lead.

UCO needed one trip through the lineup to get its first run of the game. Ty Chapman got UCO’s first hit of the game with a triple in the bottom of the third inning and Carson Carpenter followed him with an RBI single through the right side.

Central Oklahoma used three relievers to finish what Burchfield started. Trent Gerber made his UCO debut, allowing just

UCO took a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning after a single swing resulted in two runs. Caden Robertson singled up the middle to start the first, and Garrett Long homered with two outs in deep right center field to give the Bronchos a 3-0 lead.

Central Oklahoma defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State on Sunday night with a five-run eighth inning. Monday against East Central, the Bronchos scored four runs in the eighth inning, all with two outs.

Hammack reached on an error and stole second. Luke Stout reached on his second mistake. After Robertson drew a walk, Drake Lee did too. Hammack scored the first run of the rally to make

Central Oklahoma goes the road next weekend to take on three Arkansas schools with four games in the Henderson State Invitational. UCO faces HSU on Friday. The Bronchos will face Ouachita Baptist across the street on Saturday, followed by Southern Arkansas on Saturday night at HSU. Central Oklahoma’s weekend concludes next Sunday with a second meeting versus Southern Arkansas.

The Bronchos return to Edmond on February 14-16, hosting Colorado Christian in a four-game series.
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