ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University softball team used great defense and timely hitting to take down cross-street rival Henderson State 6-0 in the series finale of the Battle of the Ravine Tuesday afternoon at Sully Anderson Field.
Today's win snapped a 12-game losing streak for the Tigers.
The Tigers opened the game hot, dropping three runs on the Reddies in the first inning.
Hope Waid led things off by getting hit by a pitch. Waid would get caught stealing, but
Heather Brown then worked a walk to put a runner back on first with one out.
Erin Williams then doubled to left center, moving Brown to third.
Madyson Shoebottom followed Williams' double with a stand-up triple down the right field line to score Brown and Williams and give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Shoebottom was brought home by a
Callie Jourdan RBI groundout that rounded out the scoring for the Tigers' three-run first inning.
Both teams were held scoreless in the second, but Ouachita added a run in the bottom of the third on a
Maggi Huddleston RBI single that scored
Erin Williams from second to put the Tigers up by four. In the fourth inning, after holding the Reddies to just one baserunner in the top of the inning, the Tigers opened the offense back up, scoring two more runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Rebecca Holiman led the inning off with a walk and was moved to second as
Kennedy Wilkie grounded out. Then
Katelyn Provence walked, and a wild pitch allowed Holiman to advance to third with just one out.
Heather Brown then singled to right field, bringing in Holiman and Provence to put the Tigers up by six runs.
Ouachita held Henderson State to just three hits across the final three innings of play, including a three-up-three-down seventh inning, and held on to shut out the Reddies 6-0 and take the final game of the GAC rivalry series.
The six runs in today's win were the most since scoring 11 against East Central on March 17. This was also the first shut out for the Tigers since blanking UAPB on February 12.
The Tigers will look to build on today's success as they head on the road to take on the nationally ranked Bison of Oklahoma Baptist in a three game GAC series beginning Friday evening in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
