Softball | 3/12/2018 9:14:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 Oklahoma City—In a six-game Sooner Athletic Conference stretch, the Panhandle State softball team faced two inner-league opponents and settled for two wins over the three-day span.

Thursday's doubleheader matchup against No. 1 ranked Oklahoma City University saw stiff competition in the circle, as the Aggies were allowed just five hits and one run over the 12-inning course. Panhandle took a 7-1 loss in seven innings in game one, and fell in five innings in game two with an 8-0 shutout by the Stars.

Pitchers Julia Ibarra and Emily Worley each carried a loss for the Aggies with Worley pitching 6.0 innings in game one, and owning 11 hits and four earned runs on her watch. Ibarra totaled 12 hits and seven earned runs over her 4.2 inning shift in game two. Jewell Lee, Haleigh Scott and Emily Worley were the only three Aggies to produce at the plate. Lee had two hits in game one, both singles; Scott straddled one hit in each game, and Worley marked the only RBI for the Aggies against OCU in game one.

The Aggies met with Southwestern Christian University in Bethany for a four-game conference series Friday and Saturday and split with two wins over the Eagles, one each day. The team took game two shutout victories (16-0, 15-0) each day in under seven innings, after suffering shaky game one losses (4-2, 9-1-five innings) to the Eagles.

Pitcher Julia Ibarra led off for the Aggies in game one and got off to a solid start, taking the first three batters out on a pop-up, strikeout and ground-out. The Eagles tallied two hits and one run in the bottom of the second to gain a 1-0 lead on the Aggies, who remained hitless until the top of the fourth when Brooklyne Bolton knocked a double to right-center. Bolton was put out rounding second and the Aggies would leave one runner on base with zero runs produced in the inning. OCU covered the bases with a lead-off homer to left to open the bottom of the fourth and gain a 2-0 advantage over the Aggies. Ibarra and the Aggie defense silenced the following three batters with a ground-out, line-out and strikeout.

The fifth inning saw action at the plate for Panhandle with three hits and one run scored. With one down, Ibarra stepped up and drove a double to left field as the Aggies' second batter in the inning. Designated player Anujnessia Husband followed up with a base-hit bunt, sending Ibarra to third. Jewell Lee then sent an RBI single up the middle to score Ibarra for the first run of the day for Panhandle State. Effective fielding by the Aggies in the bottom of the inning left the score 2-1 in favor of the Eagles. The home team improved their lead by two runs in the sixth (4-1) after the Aggies stranded a lone runner in the top-half of the stretch. Panhandle State would gain their last run of the game on an outfield error by the Eagles in the seventh inning. Lee reached base on balls with two outs, advanced on a single by Karah Ortiz, and then scored on a fielding error.

Turning full-tilt in game two, Panhandle State collected 16 runs on 15 hits, with every batter reaching base on at least one hit in the five-inning set. Starting pitcher Lindsay Jacobs left the Eagles with goose eggs across the board, allowing just two hits and zero base on balls over 17 batters faced; she threw two out with strikes and claimed her second win of the season in shutout fashion.

After taking empty innings in first two stanzas, the Aggies put up seven runs each in the third and fifth innings, and added two in the fourth. Faith Guzman led off with a double to left to start things off in the top of the third. Julia Ibarra and Jewell Lee each singled up the middle to bring Guzman in for Panhandle's first run of game two. Ibarra came through on a single by Karah Ortiz, who would later score on an error by shortstop as Jaylnn Reyes hit into a fielder's choice play and Brooklyne Bolton reached base being hit by pitch. Catcher Haleigh Scott took base on the infield error that scored Ortiz, and a single from pitcher Jacobs turned into three runs scored for the Aggies. Jacobs was the final Aggie to cross home in the third inning, on a double by Faith Guzman. The Eagles put up one hit with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but left the runner on base as a pop-up closed out the third.

Panhandle's first run in the fourth inning came through off the bat of Brooklyne Bolton, who hit a single to right-center with two runners on base; shortstop Jena Konieczka scored from second base after reaching on a single through the hole with one out. Reyes was the second runner to score as Lindsay Jacobs walked to first with bases loaded to edge the Aggies into a 9-0 lead with four innings in the book. A busy fifth inning brought in seven runs on four hits, four walks and two hit batters. Lee, Reyes, Bolton, Scott, Jacobs, Guzman and Ibarra each gathered runs to seal the quick victory for Panhandle State.

Saturday's first matchup ended early for the Aggies, as SCU jumped out to 4-0 lead in the first inning, and collected two runs in the second and three in the third with Jacobs at the rubber for OPSU. The Aggies were kept quiet through the first four innings, scoring their only run of the game in the fifth on a solo home run by Faith Guzman. Ortiz led off with a double in the fourth, and Konieczka and Ibarra each hit singles in the game. Jacobs held the loss with nine hits and six earned runs, throwing one out in her 2.2 innings pitched; Emily Worley came in to relieve Jacobs in the final 1.1 innings and held the Eagles hitless.

The Aggies warmed up for a hot finish in the series finale shutout, opening with one run in the first inning and closing out the contest on eight runs scored in the top of the sixth. Ibarra took the circle and, with the help of the Aggie defense, held the Eagles to just three hits over 22 batters faced. A double from Anjunessia Husband got things off to a great start, as Husband would score, four deep into the lineup, on a single by Brooklyne Bolton. One run was plated for Panhandle in the third, as Husband once again had the opening hit and was batted in by single from Bolton; the unearned run scored on a wild throw from right field.

Faith Guzman and Julia Ibarra stepped up with back-to-back singles to start the fourth inning off right, but Guzman was forced out at third on a fielder's choice play off the plate from Jewell Lee. With two down Karah Ortiz reached on an error to load the bases, and Ibarra slipped a run through on the bobbled ball. Bolton then hit a single to score Lee, and was backed by a single from Jaylinn Reyes that would score both Ortiz and Bolton with the help of another fielding error by the Eagle infield. SCU took a quick three outs in the bottom of the fourth to end the inning with a six-run deficit (6-0). Ortiz's at-bat in the fifth, yielded one run with an RBI-single. The Aggies totaled nine hits and eight runs in the sixth inning off singles from Ibarra, Brissa Rivera, Reyes, Konieczka, Scott and Guzman; Bolton brought in an RBI with a bases loaded walk. Ibarra's win marked her tenth of the season.

Panhandle State softball nears the .500 mark with a 12-13 record on the season and owns the most wins within the conference, standing at 5-5 in SAC play. The Aggies still hold the top slot for batting average (.383) among Sooner Athletic Conference teams as well as for Hits (283), Runs Scored (188) and RBI (171). The team leads the conference in doubles and triples, with Haleigh Scott and Jewell Lee ranking first in each category respectively; Scott is tied for first in doubles with eight and Lee is listed first for triples with five. Fans can catch the Aggies in action at home next week with an SAC rematch with Oklahoma City on Tuesday, March 20. The Aggies will break from conference play this week with road games at Kansas Wesleyan March 15.