By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay
Righthander Braxton Bragg pitched into the eighth inning and struck out 10 Sunday afternoon as the Dallas Baptist Patriots won for the second time in two days, claiming a 9-1 decision to oust the Washington Huskies from the NCAA’s Stillwater Regional.
Now 2-1 in Stillwater this weekend, the Patriots will move into the finals. Seeded second in the regional, they’ll play the 2-0 and fourth-seeded Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles Sunday night at 8 p.m.
The Golden Eagles, riding a 20-game winning streak, need to win only once to claim the regional title. The Patriots need to win twice. If DBU wins Sunday night, another game will be played for the championship on Monday.
Dallas Baptist is the regular-season champion from Conference USA. DBU claimed the C-USA title when it swept three games from UTSA in San Antonio last month. In the conference’s postseason event, the Patriots reached the title game and lost to Charlotte.
Despite the loss, they were seeded second in the NCAA Stillwater Regional. Now they’re in the regional finals with a record of 47-15. In the regional, the Patriots lost in the opener on Friday, falling 9-5 to Washington. On Saturday, they bounded back to beat national No. 11 seed Oklahoma State, 18-4.
On Sunday, they got the pitching from Bragg, who completed 7 and 2/3 innings, and an offense that produced 11 hits. The Patriots also took advantage of six walks by Huskies pitching. Nathan Humphreys homered for Dallas Baptist, his 14th of the season.
The Golden Eagles, with a 48-11 record, haven’t lost since April 22. They’re on a tear that vaulted them to both the The Summit League regular-season and postseason crowns.
In the NCAA regional, they knocked off host Oklahoma State 6-4 in the opener on Friday and then followed with a 15-12, come-from-behind victory over Washington on Saturday to reach the final.