Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Austin, Texas—The OPSU Softball team wrapped up a three-city tour this week that started with a weekend conference series against Texas A&M-International in Laredo, Texas where the Aggies took one of three games. They followed up with a doubleheader in Austin on Monday and earned a 7-4 victory in game two against Huston-Tillotson College. The Aggies then took two losses against Southern Nazarene (3-4, 1-9) on Wednesday in Bethany before returning to Goodwell.

A disappointing 3-4 loss to Huston-TIllotson in Monday's game one saw 12 Aggie batters strike out at the plate and the Rams score their winning run on an infield error. OPSU's three runs were each scored off solo homers by Faith Guzman, Madison Heathington and Samantha Arledge. Guzman hit her first homerun of the season in the top of the third inning to put the Aggies on the board with a 1-0 lead. HTC scored their first two runs in the bottom of the third after the Aggies gave up a lead-off double, two singles and a stolen base.

The Rams added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as another stolen base helped push the first runner through and an error on second base scored another putting the Aggies back by three runs (1-4) going into the sixth inning. Senior pitcher Samantha Arledge held off all three Ram batters in the sixth with the help of solid infield play by the Aggies; HTC had zero hits in the inning. Heathington then opened the seventh with a lead-off homer and, on two outs, Arledge stepped up with her first homerun of the year to pull the Aggies within one run of the Rams (3-4). Guzman followed in the lineup and was walked to base prompting a pitching change by the Rams; Guzman took second on a steal but was left on base as the third out came as the next Aggie batter struck out looking. Arledge took the loss for OPSU pitching all six innings and allowing seven hits and four earned runs; she threw out four batters on strikes.

In the Aggies' 7-4 win in game two, Huston-Tillotson scored two runs on passed balls, one on a double and one on a hit batter. OPSU's Anyssa Barbosa led off the game taking a walk to first base; Barbosa advanced to second on a sac-bunt by Julia Ibarra and proceeded to steal third as the next batter (Heathington) was also walked to base. Brooklyne Bolton then sent Barbosa home with a double to right field. Heathington scored from third on a passed ball and gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead after the first half-inning of play. The Rams scored one run each in the bottom of the first and third innings to tie the game, and the score remained 2-2 through the sixth inning.

A big seventh inning put five runs on the board for OPSU as two runners were walked, one hit by pitch and two advanced on errors by the HTC defense. Danielle Villarreal was the first Aggie batter on base, after striking out but reaching on a dropped ball. A good eye by Barbosa earned her a base on balls and both Villarreal and Barbosa crossed home plate as Madison Heathington drove her ninth double of the season for two RBI. With two outs Guzman took first base on a walk and Heathington and Guzman each advanced an extra base on a wild pitch with Criselda Luna at the plate. Luna hit a single to score Heathington from third and a hit batter loaded the bases with Aggies as Ashby Williams pinch hit for centerfielder Cortney Clark. An outfield error then put Darcie Wilson on first, pushing through the fifth run for the Aggies as Guzman scored from third. HTC managed two runs in the bottom of the seventh but left the tying three runs on base to take the loss.

Freshmen pitchers Janna Ruether and Criselda Luna shared time in the circle for the Aggies in game two. Ruether got the start and went 2.2 innings before being replaced by Luna who earned her fifth win in 4.1 innings.; Luna gave up four hits and two earned runs. Each pitcher threw two strikeouts in the game.

In Wednesday's doubleheader with Southern Nazarene, the Aggies totaled ten hits (all singles) and gave up 17 to their opponents; the Crimson Storm totaled four doubles and one triple in the series and struck out 19 Aggie batters. Julia Ibarra was OPSU's starting pitcher in game one and threw a complete game allowing four hits and four runs (three earned); she threw three strikeouts in her six innings at the rubber.

Solid pitching from both sides left the first two innings empty as batters went three-up/three-down in each half-inning appearance until Ibarra hit an RBI single in the top of the third to put OPSU on the board. The Storm then added on run to tie the game in the bottom of the inning as an error on the Aggies helped score a runner from third base. Another Aggie error in the fourth put runners in scoring position for SNU, who then scored one run on the next at-bat to pull ahead 2-1. OPSU brought through two runs in the fifth when two batters were hit by pitches, and later scored on a two-run single by Brooklyne Bolton. The Aggies' 3-2 lead would not last long, as the Storm answered scoring two runs of their own in the fifth on a triple and a sacrifice bunt. Only one hit was allowed through the final inning and a half and Ibarra took the loss and fell to a 4-6 record on the season.

Samantha Arledge took the circle for OPSU in game two and struggled through four innings giving up nine hits and seven earned runs while in the game. Luna replaced Arledge in the fifth and threw for one out before allowing the eight-run rule to end the game early. The Aggies scored their only run of the game with two outs in the first inning; Madison Heathington knocked in an RBI on a single to score Ibarra from second base. Southern Nazarene tied things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second as a lead-off double was brought through from second on a single with two outs. The score remained tied through the top of the fourth inning; Arledge was then taken for six runs in the bottom of the fourth as the Storm got away with three doubles, three singles, a stolen base and a hit batter. All three Aggie batters were sat down in the fifth and, with Luna in the circle and the score at 7-1, the Storm sealed victory with two runs in the fifth as OPSU allowed four singles, two stolen bases and a walked batter in the inning. Arledge took the loss and now holds a 3-4 record.

The Aggies came out 2-7 in their road series and now sit with an overall record of 12-17. With one win in the Heartland Conference OPSU Softball hopes to improve their record as they resume conference play this weekend with a three-game home matchup against St. Edward's University. Games originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday have been moved to Saturday and Sunday due to weather. The Aggies will play a doubleheader against the Hilltoppers at 1 p.m. Saturday and will play game three on Sunday at Noon.