Gruver, Texas – Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball split its Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader with Langston University, in games moved to Gruver H.S. due to poor field conditions in Goodwell after Friday's storm. As much as the Aggies' (13-9, 4-6 SAC) game one, 6-5, loss may have been forgettable, OPSU's crushing 29-2 game two win over the Lions (13-12, 6-6 SAC) proved equally memorable.
In the opener, all of LU's six runs were unearned as the Aggies committed four errors. The top of the third innings saw the Lions push across four runs off of OPSU starter
Lindsay Jacobs. That would be all Jacobs would permit in the 6.0 innings of work, scattering eight hits.
The Aggies got three runs back in their half of the third frame.
Abby Gregory led off with a double and eventually scored on
Karah Ortiz's ground out.
Brittany Thomas added an RBI triple and
Jaylinn Reyes drove in a run on a ground out to make it 4-3.
Panhandle State knotted the game at 4-4 in the sixth, thanks to a leadoff double off the bat of
Kayli Grove. Grove would eventually come home as Jacobs helped herself with an infield single that plated Grove. That took Jacobs off the hook for the decision, as
Kaylor Battiest came on in the seventh.
Battiest retired the first batter and then walked a pair of Lions, inducing a fly ball for out number two. But a subsequent throwing error allowed Langston to add a pair of runs and take a 6-4 lead.
The Aggies made one last push in their final at-bats, reeling off three-consecutive singles to open the bottom of the seventh. Thomas scored on a throwing error to make it 6-5, but OPSU could add no more to its total.
Thomas finished game one going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
In game two, the Aggies ran up some downright gaudy numbers in the 29-2 win. The Aggies tallied 24 runs in the first two innings alone. In the second inning, Panhandle State put up 15 runs, sent batters to the plate, collected 11 hits and six walks.
In the five-inning game – shortened by the run rule – OPSU slapped a total of 23 hits as a team, with seven players collecting multiple hits and had 26 RBI. 11 different Panhandle players had hits. The 29 runs were the most ever scored by an Aggies' team led by Head Coach Meghan Mulcah
The biggest game was had by leadoff batter Jewel Lee, who sparkled at the plate. Lee went 4-for-5 with the bat, including a grand slam home run in that big second inning. She finished the game with six RBI.
Reyes was also 4-for-5 with three runs and two runs batted in. Ortiz was 3-for-4 and scored four times and drove in two. Thomas,
Jena Konieczka,
Brissa Rivera and
Lindsey Harris all went 2-for-3
Battiest threw all 5.0 innings to even her personal record at 4-4. She struck out three and walked on in the game two victory.
The teams will conclude the series with a doubleheader Sunday at 12 p.m., also at Gruver H.S.
