ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University softball team used timely hits and big innings to come back twice in order to secure a double header sweep against the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist University Friday evening at Sully Anderson Field.
Game One: Ouachita 9, SBU 7
Game one saw Southwest Baptist strike first after a scoreless first inning for both teams. The Bearcats scored one in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.
Erin Williams homered to right field to cut the deficit in half for the Tigers in the fourth inning. SBU answered back with four runs in the fifth inning to lead the Tigers 6-1. Then, the sixth inning happened.
Ouachita's bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth inning, exploding for eight runs, the most by the Tigers in a single inning this season. The runs started when
Callie Jourdan scored on an error caused by a
Jessalyn Ahrens hit ball.
Katelyn Provence then made her presence known with a triple down the right field line that cleared the loaded bases to make it a one-run, 6-5 game. The Tigers weren't done yet as
Maggi Huddleston doubled just one batter later to score Provence and Williams to give Ouachita its first lead of the day 7-6. Huddleston came home on an error on a
Lauren Lester hit ball. The eight-run rally was capped off when
Tiffany Backeberg hit an RBI single to right center that scored
Emma McCorkle to give the Tigers a 9-6 lead. The Bearcats plated one run in the seventh, but that was it for SBU and the Tigers earned a 9-7 comeback victory.
- Erin Williams went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI, two runs scored, a home run and a walk. The home run was Williams' third of the season.
- Maggi Huddleston went 2-for4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.
- Katelyn Provence went 1-for-4 with 3 RBI, a run scored and a triple.
- Starter Tuesday Melton picked up her fourth win of the season in the circle tonight as she pitched all seven innings for her fourth complete game of the year as well.
Game Two: Ouachita 10, SBU 7
A little over 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one, Ouachita found itself in a similar situation to the start of the first game. Southwest Baptist put together a four-run first inning, causing Ouachita to use three pitchers in that first half inning, causing the Tigers to trail by four before getting to bat. SBU scored another run in the top of the second inning to make it 5-0 Bearcats before Ouachita got on the board.
The Tigers then proceeded to score two runs in each of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The rally started with a home run in this game too, as
Lauren Lester smoked a two-run homer over the center field fence to make it 5-2 SBU. The third inning saw
Hope Waid score on a fielder's choice hit by
Kodee Batchelor and Lester hit an RBI single through the left side to score Provence a few batters later to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Ouachita took the lead in the fourth inning on a 2 RBI double from
Katelyn Provence that scored Waid and
Shelby Smith.
SBU tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the fifth inning, but the Tigers took the lead right back as
Lacy Ornelas and Shleby Smith both scored on wild pitches. The Bearcats made it a one-run game once again in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Waid scored on a wild pitch and Provence scored on an error by the Bearcats to push the Tigers' lead to three runs. Ouachita held SBU to just one hit in the top of the seventh to secure their second comeback victory of the day, winning 10-7 over SBU.
- Hope Waid went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored in the leadoff spot.
- Katelyn Provence went 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored, a double and a walk.
- Lauren Lester went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run scored and a home run, her first of the season and the first of her collegiate career.
- Callie Jourdan went 2-for-4 at the plate.
- Kodee Batchelor earned her first collegiate win in the circle tonight after coming in in relief and allowing just two runs and striking out three across three and a third innings.
The Tigers will look to add to their success tomorrow, Saturday, February 18 as they host the Jennies of the University of Central Missouri in a double header at Sully Anderson Field.
