OKLAHOMA CITY - OCU baseball finds six all-conference selections as Chad Pike brings the 2024 SAC Player of the Year award. 

Chad Pike became the first player in program history to be a first team all-conference selections at two positions, shortstop and relief pitcher. The senior was named the conference player of the year after finishing the season with a .312 batting average while finishing eighth in the conference in slugging percentage with an average of .672.

Pike also finished fourth in the league and second on the team with 15 home runs. Offensively this season, Pike has had three games with two home runs coming against Freed-Hardeman, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Central Christian. In games against Freed-Hardeman and OPSU, Pike launches a pair of homers in each contest while also collecting four RBI in each of those games. 

Pike will likely end the 2024 season as the top two-way player in the country acting as the Stars closer in 2024. Pike currently leads the country in saves with 14 and has allowed just one hit in his last 4.1 innings and has not allowed a run in his last 11 outings dating back to Mar. 10 against Mid-America Christian. 

Reese Ratchford was selected as a first team all-conference catcher for the first time in his two-year career at OCU. Ratchford finished the year batting .345 with 1.033 OPS along with eight doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI. One of his top games this season came on the road at Oklahoma Panhandle State where he tied a season-high of three hits on top of a season-best four RBI in the 15-0 rout over the Aggies on Mar. 15.

Ratchford came up clutch for the Stars back on Feb. 24 against Central Methodist who wa ranked 22nd in the country at the time, as Ratchford used a three-run homer in the sixth inning to take the lead to which OCU went on to win 6-4.  

Trent Kiraly hauled in his second all-conference selection and his first time being selected to the first team. Kiraly led the conference with 19 home runs while holding the team lead in hits (67) and in RBI (59) as well as being second on the team with 13 doubles. Kiraly finished the year batting .374 and saw his season-high in hits come against Sterling on Apr. 23 where the senior went off with a 4-for-4 game while hitting two home runs, collecting five RBI a double and four runs scored.

Kiraly's season-high in RBI also came against Sterling in the first meeting between the two schools back on Feb. 20. Kiraly's top moment of the season comes back on Feb. 9 against Concordia where Kiraly walked it off with one swing in the bottom of the seventh on a no-doubter over the left field wall to win it 6-5. 

Kade Shatwell rounds out the Stars first-team selections after putting up a 7-1 season on the mound with a 2.94 ERA. Shatwell threw 52.0 innings in 2024 with 46 strikeouts as he one complete game came against Texas Wesleyan back on Mar. 22. Shatwell's best start came against Southwestern Christian where the sophomore right-hander shutout the Eagles in five innings of work while allowing just one hit with a season-high eight strikeouts in the 9-1 win over SCU. 

Darian Duhon was named as a second tam all-conference outfielder in his first year at OCU as the junior batted .329 on the season, while leading the team with 48 runs scored. Duhon made a name for himself right out of the gate by starting off the year with six straight hits including a 4-for-4 game on opening day where he delivered his first home run as a Star while picking up two RBI and scored three times. Duhon has had 18 games this year where he tallied multiple hits while he has also came across to score three times in four games this season.  

Aiden Alexander and Hunter Lenochan were awarded Gold Glove's at their respective positions. Alexander, regarded as one of the nations best center fielders has made plenty of diving, run saving plays this season while coming away with 108 putouts, two assists and just one error giving Alexander a .991 fielding percentage. Lenochan has been solid all year as the team's second basemen having 95 putouts and 97 assists to go along with a .970 fielding percentage. 

First Team All-Conference 
Trent Kiraly - 1B
Chad Pike - SS/RP
Reese Ratchford - C
Kade Shatwell - SP

Second Team All-Conference
Darian Duhon - OF

Gold Glove Winners
Aiden Alexander - CF
Hunter Lenochan - 2B