Softball | 3/14/2019 12:55:00 PM
Goodwell, Okla. – Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball will hit the road on Friday and Saturday (March 15 &16) for a pair of doubleheaders at Texas Wesleyan University. The Aggies, 10-6 overall, will try to improve their 1-3 Sooner Athletic Conference record when resuming league play versus the Lady Rams.
Live statistics links for all the games can be found via: opsuaggies.com. First pitch on Friday is slated for 2 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth.
GAME NOTES:
WHEN LAST THEY MET: In 2018, Panhandle lost all four meetings versus the Lady Rams (all played in Goodwell).
*SCOUTING THE LADY RAMS: Texas Wesleyan (2-14, 0-2 SAC) currently sit in ninth place in the SAC, just behind the Aggies in the standings.
*LAST TIME OUT FOR THE AGGIES: After not seeing the field for a game in 15 days due to weather, the Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball team reignited its season with a non-conference doubleheader sweep over Bethany College. The Aggies (10-6) topped the Swedes by scores of 4-3 and 9-2.
Panhandle State showed a little rust in the opener, as Bethany jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 2 ½ innings. But the Aggies scratched out a run in their half of the third. A one-out bunt single from
Jewell Lee got matters going, with Lee eventually advancing to third on a ground out.
Jaylinn Reyes then slapped an RBI single to right, making it 3-1. That score stood until the bottom of the fifth, when OPSU posted a crooked number to take the lead. Reyes led the Aggies in game one by going 3-for-3 with the bat, driving in one. Lee was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored as the only other Panhandle State player with multiple hits.
Game two was slightly akin to the first, as the Swedes tallied with a pair of runs in the top of the first off OPSU hurler
Brittany Thomas (1-0). But Thomas also settled in and blanked Bethany the rest of her 4.0 innings of work, registering four strikeouts and three walks. Panhandle's "super saver"
Kaylor Battiest threw the final three innings to earn save No. 3, striking out four and walking none. Thomas not only picked up the win in the circle, but also was 2-for-3 with a run and a pair of RBI with the bat.
*EAGER TO RESTART: Prior to last Saturday's sweep of Bethany College, the Aggies had 15 of their last 17 games wiped away by weather.
*WEATHER BEATEN: The Aggies' 15-day stretch without a game was the longest weather interruption experienced by an OPSU softball team since the 2015 squad had a 13-day meteorological hiatus.
*CENTURY MARK FOR MEGHAN: OPSU Head Coach
Meghan Mulcahy recorded her 100th career coaching victory in the first game of that Feb. 21 date versus Southwestern Christian (won by the Aggies, 2-1, in eight innings).
*QUICK START: The Aggies 4-0 start to 2019 matched the best beginning to a season in Coach Mulcahy's six years at the OPSU helm. The team also accomplished that feat in 2017.
*.400 CLUB: Jena Konieczka (.447) and
Karah Ortiz (.400) lead the Aggies in batting average. Konieczka leads Panhandle in doubles with four, while Ortiz tops the team in triples with three.
*LONG BALL: Abby Gregory has slammed four home runs, thus far, in 2019. She goes yard an average of every 7.8 at-bats.
*TRIPLES THREAT: The Aggies, as a team, have run their way to nine triples.
*"K" LEADER: Kaylor Battiest has 45 strikeouts to 25 walks, a ratio of 1.8-to-1 from the circle. Battiest also has three saves to her credit.
