Goodwell, Okla. – The Oklahoma Panhandle State University softball team settled for a split of its series versus Southwestern Assemblies of God University, after dropping Saturday's doubleheader, 7-5 and 12-8, at Aggie Softball Field. The Aggies (25-19, 16-16 SAC) won yesterday's twinbill from the Lions (23-23, 18-14 SAC) to forge the series split.
OPSU drew first blood in game one, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on
Karah Ortiz's RBI single. In the top of the second, SAGU answered with three runs of its own. But the Aggies knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the second, adding two as
Chrislyn Dovers scored on a fielding error and
Abby Gregory cracked an RBI double that tied the game.
In the top of the third, the Lions got to OPSU reliever Kalyor Battiest - who came on for starter
Brittany Thomas after two innings - for four more runs. It would prove to be all that SAGU would need for the win. The Aggies tried to chip away at the deficit down the stretch, as Battiest settled down to blank SAGU the final four frames.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Haley Neal led off with a single and, after moving up to second on Ortiz's single, eventually coming around to score on Thomas' hit to center. In their final at-bats in the seventh, the Aggies opened with back-to-back doubles by
Jaylinn Reyes and
Kayli Grove to make it 7-5, bringing the potential tying run to the plate with no outs. But the next three OPSU batters were retired to end the Panhandle comeback bid.
Ortiz (2-4), Thomas (2-4) and Gregory (2-3) each collected a pair of hits in the first game. Each also had an RBI.
Battiest (13-10) took the loss. In her 5.0 innings of work, she struck out five and walked two. Thomas struck out three in her 2.0 innings.
In the second game, after a scoreless first inning, both teams erupted for 15 combined runs in the second. After the Lions tallied eight in their half, the Aggies posted seven with two outs. With two on,
Jewell Lee ripped a base-clearing triple to start the OPSU merry-go-round. Lee was driven home by Lindsay Harris. After Thomas drew a walk, Reyes' RBI single made it 8-4.
That brought Grove to the plate, who unleashed a bomb to right-center field for a three-run homer that made it 8-7. It was Grove's third round-tripper of the season.
But the Lions were able to add three in the third and one in the sixth. The Aggies were held at bay until adding a run in the bottom of the seventh, as Reyes scored on a wild pitch.
Lee was the only Aggie with multiple hits in game two. She was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI from her leadoff position.
Lindsay Jacobs (11-6) took the loss in the circle, going 4.1 innings. Battiest had a pair of strikeouts in her 2.2 innings of relief.
