The Odessa College baseball team closed out its first homestand of the 2022 season on a high note in a doubleheader against Vernon College.
Two strong performances helped the Wranglers grab a 12-11 win over the Chaps in Game 1 and a 14-4 victory in six innings in Game 2.
“It was great to get two wins, I thought we played pretty well yesterday, we made some defensive mistakes late,” Odessa College baseball coach Kurtis Lay said. “Today, realistically we made mistakes that kept them in the ball game but we were able to swing our way out of it.”
The early innings of the doubleheader’s opening game indicated that scoring bursts and some late playmaking would be deciding factors.
In Game 1, Vernon College jumped ahead with a four-run third inning that was highlighted by RBI singles from Zak Skinner and Pierre-Emmanuel Planes.
The Wranglers had no response in the bottom of the frame, but put up seven runs in the fourth to jump ahead.
Even after allowing a solo home run, Odessa College maintained its lead with a Tucker Gideon single that scored Daniel Monti and Argenis Santana in the bottom of the fifth.
Vernon College used another burst in the sixth to regain the lead, scoring six runs and swinging the momentum in its favor with a base-clearing triple from Skinner.
After Odessa College’s Conor Myles tied the score at 11-11 with a two-run homer, the Chaps had a chance to grab a decisive with loaded bases in the top of the seventh.
Instead a double play ended the game-winning opportunity and put the Wranglers in prime position to steal a late victory.
With Chase Diggins in scoring position, Brandon Rincones singled to center field to secure the Game 1 win for Odessa College.
“The team’s done it all year,” Lay said. “They believe in themselves.
“That’s part of my complaint, let’s have good at-bats from the first inning on through the ninth or through the seventh.”
The Wranglers’ bats found a rhythm earlier in Game 2, building up a two-run lead in the first inning that was started with an RBI single from Rincones.
After seeing Odessa College extend its lead by one run in the second, Vernon College again showed its ability to jump ahead in an instant.
Cole Miears scored the Chaps’ first run of the game in the third off a single from Planes to right field and an RBI single from Dillon Flores helped them cut the deficit to one.
A double from Luis Morales quickly helped the visitors take the lead, as Planes and Tyler Daniels scored to give Vernon College four runs in the top of the frame.
Those were the only runs the Chaps managed, as Odessa College scored 11 unanswered to seal the victory in six innings.
The Wranglers (7-3 overall) will continue nonconference play with a three-game series against Weatherford College, starting with Game 1 at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at Wrangler Field.
“They’re going to have two big arms, their No. 1 arm is committed to LSU and their No. 2 arm is committed to Texas Tech,” Lay said of Weatherford. “It’s going to be a great weekend to watch some college baseball if you’re in the city of Odessa.”
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