BETHANY, Oklahoma -- The Ouachita Baptist University softball team closed out the 2022 regular season with a double-header split on the road against Southern Nazarene on Saturday, winning the first game 9-8 and losing the second game 5-1.

The Tigers (18-28, 14-19 GAC) and Crimson Storm (24-24, 20-12 GAC) went back and forth in the first game.

Ouachita struck first with six runs in the top of the second inning on three different two-RBI hits. Sarah Tuller started the rally with a two-run single, followed later by a two-run double by Hope Waid, and a two-run single by Lauren Lester.

SNU answered with five runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to cut the TIger lead down to one run. The Storm tied the game at 6-6 with one run in the third. 

Ouachita regained the lead in the fifth on a two-run double from Lacy Ornelas, only to see that lead taken away in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of SNU runs. 

Ornelas came through again in the seventh with what ended up being a game-winning two-run double.

Ouachita had 11 hits in the win, led by Waid, Lester, Ornelas, and Madison Miller with two hits each.

Nikki Schnieder (6-10) earned the win in relief, allowing just two runs on four hits with no walks in the final four innings.

In the series rubber match, SNU scored three runs in the first inning and held that lead throughout the game, while limiting the TIgers to just three hits.

Ouachita's lone run came on a Callie Jourdan single in the third inning.

The Tigers have clinched the No. 7 seed in next week's GAC Championship Tournament to be played in Bentonville, Arkansas. Ouachita will take on No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas in the opening round on Thursday, May 5 at 4 p.m.
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