Tweet #theGAC  ENID, Okla. – Oklahoma Baptist earned the first spot in the final of the 2019 Great American Conference Baseball Championships as the Bison handed top-seeded Arkansas-Monticello its first loss of event with an 11-5 victory on Monday from David Allen Memorial Ballpark.
 
Caleb Bly, in just his fifth start of the season, pitched into the seventh inning for the Bison (32-19). He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. He recorded a season-high seven strikeouts.
 
Carrying a 1-0 lead into the fourth, Oklahoma Baptist again relied on the long ball to extend the lead. With one out, Joey Pledger hit a three-run home run off of Matt Lundh, the GAC Pitcher of Year. Two pitches later, Garrett McKee made it back-to-back home runs for the Bison with a majestic blast to left. Eric Carlson pushed the lead to 6-0 with a single.
 
An inning later, McKee singled to bring home Brett Bloomfield. PJ Harris made the lead 9-0 as he plated a pair with a single inside the third base line.
 
Arkansas-Monticello (33-13) started to figure out Bly in the fifth inning. Grant Shepherd singled to score two runs. He finished the day with three hits. An inning later John Mauldin crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
 
Oklahoma Baptist added single tallies in the eighth and ninth innings. McKee scored on a Ramon Enriquez ground out and Kaimana Bartolome hit his second home run of the GAC Championships in the ninth.
 
Seven Bison registered multi-hit performances. Harris finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Pledger went 2-for-4 with the three RBI. McKee scored three times as part of a 2-for-5 day. Carlson, Bartolome, Bloomfield and Jake Gozzo all collected two hits.
 
Lundh suffered his first loss in eight decisions on the year. He allowed five runs and gave up seven hits in 3.1 innings of work.
 
Offensively, the Bison continued to put up crooked numbers at the GAC Championships. With the 11-run total, they have tallied 27 runs in their three wins.
 
The Bison will take on the surviving team from the loser’s bracket at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Arkansas-Monticello will take on Arkansas Tech or Harding in Tuesday’s first contest, set to begin at noon.