HOBBS, N.M. — Crooked numbers in the middle innings hurt the Oklahoma Panhandle State softball team (0-6) as it was swept by scores of 7-5 and 9-4 at the University of the Southwest (2-0) on Friday afternoon.
Game 1: After falling behind 1-0, the Aggies took a second-inning lead behind a sacrifice fly from
Jules Leach and a single from
Aaliyah Dang-Gutierrez that plated
Flora Moreno and
Cassidy Stanhope, respectively.
An extra out given up by OPSU hurt the visitors in the third frame, as the Mustangs struck for four runs. Though Leach drove in
Gracie Lankford with a base hit in the top of the fourth, USW came back with a two-run double in the bottom of the inning to increase its advantage to 7-3.
Summer Marron came in to pitch two hitless, shutout innings, but the Aggies were still trailing by four runs entering the final frame.
Panhandle State put together a seventh-inning threat with three base hits – including a double that drove in two off the bat of Liliana Vequera – and two stolen bases, but a costly out on the basepaths expedited the game's end in a 7-5 defeat.
OPSU stole eight bases in the opener, led by Dang-Gutierrez and
Haley Emmerson, who each had two swipes. Stanhope and Dang-Gutierrez fueled the lineup with two base knocks apiece.
Game 2: The Aggies stranded five runners on base through two scoreless innings to start the second game, and they would soon pay the price as the Mustangs scored nine runs from the third through fifth frames, highlighted by the home team's grand slam in the fourth.
OPSU took advantage of a couple errors to score twice in the top of the fourth inning, and
Haeley Vasquez closed the scoring output with a two-run homer in the seventh, though it was not nearly enough. Vasquez' homer was the first of the season for Panhandle State and the eighth of her Aggie career.
Marron again threw a shutout inning to close OPSU's pitching efforts, ending her day with three total scoreless frames without giving up a hit.
What's up next: OPSU has its home-opening series at Jim Quimby Field beginning next Friday, Feb. 13, versus Kansas Wesleyan (0-0). First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.
