Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Goodwell, Okla.—Back on their home field for a four-game series against New Mexico Highlands, the OPSU Softball team was unable to pull out a win against the RMAC opponent.

NMHU came into the series with a 1-13 overall record and added four notches to the win column after sweeping the Aggies in two double-headers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's match-ups resulted in 11-4 and 8-2 victories for the Cowgirls; Wednesday the Aggies fell by scores of 3-2 and 10-2. Pitchers Samantha Arledge and Taylor Richardson each took two losses in the circle for OPSU.

Arledge got the start in the circle in game one and, with runners on first and second, struck out the next three batters to hold the Cowgirls scoreless in the first inning. Leading off for the Aggies, Ashley Jarzombek and Anyssa Barbosa each reached on singles, and were brought in on a sac bunt by Salina Galindo followed by a single from Arledge giving the Aggies a two-run lead. The Cowgirls answered with two runs in the second to tie the score and brought in their third run on a double at the top of the fifth. Jarzombek led off with another single and was brought in by Madison Heathington to even things up at 3-3. Later in the fifth, Brooklyne Bolton brought in Galindo to pull the Aggies up by one run going into the sixth inning. Arledge held the Cowgirls to one run in the sixth but was replaced by Marissa Cortez with two outs in the top of the seventh after giving up seven runs. Cortez tossed the third strikeout and closed the inning with one walk, zero hits and zero runs; Arledge totaled ten strikeouts. Jessica Brink got the win for the Cowgirls, pitching a complete game with ten hits, four runs and seven strikeouts.

Senior Taylor Richardson was on the rubber for game two on Tuesday and threw a complete seven innings, allowing twelve hits, eight runs and two base-on-balls; she sat down two batters with strikeouts. Winning NMH pitcher Michelle Brincefield kept the Aggies to eight hits and two runs in her seven innings of work; Brincefield tossed five strikeouts for the game. The Aggies found themselves down 8-0 after 5.5 innings. Darcie Wilson led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and was followed by Galindo who drove a double down the leftfield line. Madison Heathington then brought in both runners with a single to right-center for two RBI. An easy three-out inning in the seventh left the Aggies with a chance to rally, but they were brought down in four at-bats to close out the inning delivering the win to the Cowgirls.

The Aggies held on to a one-run lead through six innings in Wednesday's opening game. Heathington and Arledge each drove in one RBI apiece in the second and third innings, while Arledge kept things quiet from the circle giving up just two hits and zero runs in the first four innings of play. The Cowgirls managed a run in the fifth and neither team scored in the sixth. With a runner on second and two outs, NMH brought in the tying run off a hard single to left field. They followed up with a double down the left line to take a 3-2 lead at the top of the seventh and sent the first three Aggie batters back to the dugout to take the third win of the series. Arledge pitched a great game throwing seven strikeouts and allowing seven hits and three runs in seven innings. Jessica Brink earned her second win of the season after relieving Brincefield for the final 4.2 innings; she gave up two hits for zero runs and threw two strikeouts.

Not giving up, the Aggies came through with lead-off double by Jarzombek and two consecutive singles to bring in one run in the first which tied the score after the Cowgirls scored on a wild pitch in the top of the inning. Two runs for the Cowgirls and one for the Aggies in the second left the game within reach at 2-3 with NMH up just one run; but a big fourth inning saw four Cowgirls cross the plate and the tables tipped further in favor of the visiting team. The Aggies were unable to bring in runners in the remaining innings while the Cowgirls crossed two in the sixth and one final run to seal the deal in the seventh. Richardson pitched 5.1 innings and took the loss for OPSU with 13 hits, nine runs and one strikeout. Cortez came in for 1.2 innings and gave up one hit for one run serving one strikeout. Lefty Jacki Wood earned her first win for NMH allowing eight hits for two runs with three strikeouts.
 

Wilson led the Aggies in hitting averaging .500 for the series; she went 6-12 at the plate and scored one run. She was a key part of the infield as well totaling 22 putouts from first base. Heathington led the team in RBI with four followed by Arledge with three. The Aggie batters totaled 32 hits in four games while the pitching crew served up a combined 21 strikeouts.

The Aggies move to 6-17 on the season and will look for their first Heartland Conference win on the road this weekend as they travel to Austin, Texas to take on St. Edward's in a three-game series Friday and Saturday. The ladies will stay in Austin to play Huston-Tillotson on March 16 and will enjoy a nice week of rest before heading to Oklahoma City March 23-24 for a conference match-up with Oklahoma Christian. The Aggies return home at the end of the month to play St. Mary's March 27-28. Good luck and safe travels to our OPSU Softball team!