ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita softball team split its doubleheader with the Eagles of Williams Baptist University, winning game one 4-3 in walk-off fashion and dropping game two 4-1 on Tuesday.
Game one: Ouachita 4, WBU 3
Ouachita fell behind to start the first game of the afternoon as Williams Baptist scored two runs in the top of the first to take the early lead. The Tigers answered back in the bottom of the inning with a two-out RBI double from
Remington Adams that scored the lead-off batter
Katelyn Provence to cut the deficit in half. The Eagles added another run in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead over Ouachita. In the bottom half of the second, the Tigers got runners on base again and an RBI groundout from
Riley Gillis scored
Emily Reed to cut WBU's lead back down to one.
From there, the game became a pitchers' duel. As neither team could find much success on offense. Williams Baptist threatened in the top of the fifth with bases loaded, but the Tiger defense pulled through with a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat. Both teams were still held off the scoreboard until the final inning.
Tuesday Melton struck out two and forced a groundout in the top of the seventh to put the Eagles down in order to send the Tigers to the plate for their last chance. The first two Ouachita batters got out, but it wasn't over yet. Provence singled short for the first base runner of the inning.
Lauren Lester followed with a walk. Bailey King singled to second to bring home Provence and move the pinch runner
Emma McCorkle to second base. Adams came up with another RBI single, this time closely beating out the throw to first to let McCorkle score and give the Tigers a walk-off 4-3 win.
Adams paced the offense by going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Provence also went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored two runs.
Maggi Huddleston went 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles. Huddleston also got the start in the circle for the Tigers and pitched five innings, giving up one earned run and striking out two.
Melton earned the win in the circle, pitching two innings in relief and struck out two while allowing only two hits and zero runs.
Game two: WBU 4, Ouachita 1
The second game of the doubleheader saw Williams Baptist take another early lead, this time plating four runs in the opening frame. Huddleston walked in the bottom of the first and was the only base runner for the Tigers until the fifth inning. Ouachita's defense woke up in the second and held the Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Tigers broke up the no-hit bid in the fifth when
Karley Burrow led the inning off with a double but was left stranded at second.
Things got more interesting in the seventh, WBU got its first two runners on, but Melton came in to pitch and closed the inning with three straight outs. King led off the bottom of the second with a single. Adams reached on a one-out fielder's choice that left her and King safe. Burrow followed with an RBI single to score King to get the Tigers on the board, but this was it for the Ouachita rally. The Tigers fell to the Eagles by the score of 4-1.
Burrow recorded two of the three hits for the Tigers in the game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double. Burrow also got the start in the circle, pitched six innings, and earned the loss.
King recorded the third hit for Ouachita, she went 1-for-3 and scored the lone run.
The Tigers open Great American Conference play on the road this weekend as they travel to Weatherford, Oklahoma to take on the Bulldogs of Southwestern Oklahoma State in a three-game series. Ouachita will play a double header on Friday, February 23 with start times of 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and game three will be on Saturday at noon.
