Woodward, Okla. —
A surprise 7-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning of game 2 ended a tight contest and gave the Travelers a doubleheader sweep of the Oklahoma City Rufneks Sunday.
The outburst broke open a 4-3 game and ended it via the run-rule 8-3 at the new Fuller Park. Woodward won the opener 2-0 on Kevin Hajny’s 4-hit shutout.
The Travelers improved to 38-16 and are off until Wednesday when Enid visits for a 6 p.m. twinbill.
In game 2, the Rufneks had just scored in the top of the sixth to get within a run at 4-3, when the Travelers offense came alive.
Jacoby Smith opened the bottom half with a double and Austin Beisel followed with a home run. After Codey McElroy doubled, the Rufneks went to their bullpen, with little success. Cole Freeman drew a walk and both runners moved up on a wild pitch.
One out later, Shawn Hunter beat out a squeeze bunt to score McElroy. Matt McDonald walked, and Chris Faulkner’s grounder scored another run when Freeman beat the throw home. Trevor Julian delivered a sacrifice fly and Smith blasted a 2-run triple to score the game-ending runs.
The Rufneks took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded single by Ricky Reeves.
Woodward countered with 3 in the second inning as McElroy hit an RBI double and Jackson Meyer blasted a 2-run double. McDonald’s solo homer in the third made it 4-2.
Johnathon Johnson worked all 6 innings for his ninth victory of the season. Johnson struggled in the opening 2 frames, then shut down the Rufneks until the sixth when Hugo Herrera hit an RBI single. Johnson ended that inning with a strikeout. He also worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the second frame.
For the game, Johnson struck out 8 and walked 6.
The opener was a pitchers duel between Hajny and Nick Branscum.
The Travelers touched Branscum for single runs in the third and fourth innings and that was all Hajny needed.
The Thomas native allowed just 4 hits and walked 1 over the 7 innings. He had 8 strikeouts.
Hunter’s solo homer in the third inning put the Travelers on the board. In the fourth, Faulkner doubled and scored on a Julian single.
The Travelers had a chance to break the game open in the fifth, but couldn’t score after loading the bases with no outs.
Woodward was playing without several injured players including Aaron McCanclless, Jake Barrios, Ryan Ainsworth and Zach Warner.
After hosting Enid, the Travelers go on the road to the Wichita State Tournament Thursday through Sunday then face the Wichita Sluggers the next Monday.
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