BETHANY, Okla. - The Ouachita Tigers softball team concluded conference play by taking one game of a doubleheader with Southern Nazarene University. The win split the series between the two teams. The Tigers fell in game one by a final of 6-2 and took game two by a final of 13-11.
Kelsey O'Brien earned the win for Ouachita in the second game.
The Tigers were held to four hits in game one. Down 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning,
Gabby Gonzalez singled in a run to tie the game at 2-2. The Crimson Storm scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead and hold on for the win.
After falling behind 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning,
Kelsey O'Brien entered the game in relief with nly one out in the inning. She got the Tigers out of the inning with allowing another run. A RBI single from
Delaney Bono and a sacrifice fly from
Paige Purifoy cut the Storm's lead in half in the top of the second inning, leaving the Tigers trailing 4-2.
Trailing 6-2 in the third, Ouachita rallied to cut the deficit to one run.
Alex Jennings drew a bases-loaded walk to score
Kelly Powell, who led the inning off with a double. O'Brien helped her own cause with a single to left and driving in two more runs to make it a 6-5 game in favor of Southern Nazarene.
Trailing 7-5 in the top of the fifth, Ouachita rallied to score eight runs off six hits to take a 13-7 lead. Daniella Brantley singled to lead off the inning and later scored on an error by SNU. Bono singled to third with the bases loaded to tie the game at 7-7. Purifoy followed with a double down the left line, scoring two and putting the Tigers ahead 9-7. A RBI from Powell increased the lead to three. Brantley followed with her second hit of the inning to score Purfioy.
Kate Lacina doubled to clear the bases and put the Tigers 13-7.
The Tigers lead remained six until the bottom of the seventh. Southern Nazarene rallied with two outs in the bottom half of their last inning. They scored four runs, all unearned, to pull within two. O'Brien struck out the final Crimson Storm batter looking and the Tigers escaped with the win.
The Tigers finished conference play by winning 10 of their last 20 games. This after starting off with just one win in their first 21 GAC games. The Tigers will close out their season this Tuesday, April 26 with a two-game series versus Central Baptist College. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
