ARKADELPHIA – In a game that lasted nearly three and-and-a-half hours in the pouring rain, the Ouachita softball team fell 16-13 to the Riverhawks of Northeastern State on Saturday.
The marathon began with Northeastern State taking a 2-0 lead after the top of the third inning. Ouachita was ready to answer with RBI singles from
Karley Burrow,
Kennedy Wilkie, and
Riley Gillis in the bottom of the third to take a 3-2 lead over the Riverhawks. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning with a two RBI triple from
Erin Williams that scored
Emma McCorkle and
Baylee King to give Ouachita a 5-2 lead. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth.
In the sixth inning, the floodgates opened in more ways than one, as the rain got heavier, and more runs started crossing the plate. NSU plated six runs in the top of the sixth inning to go up 8-5. The Riverhawks added another eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 16-5 lead over Ouachita. But the Tigers were not ready to quit yet though. Ouachita rattled off RBIs from
Emily Reed,
Jordyn Merrett,
Lauren Lester, and
Erin Williams to make the score 16-9. Then, with bases loaded,
Remington Adams hit a triple to clear the loaded bases to bring the Tigers within four, 16-12. Ouachita added another run on an RBI groundout from
Karley Burrow to cut the deficit to three. But this is as close as the Tigers would get, as they dropped the game 16-13 to Northeastern State.
Williams led the Tigers in hits and tied for the lead in RBI, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored.
Adams also recorded three RBI, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Riley Gillis went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
A total of three Tigers scored two runs, the three being Adams, King, and Lester. Burrow also recorded two RBI, which was second on the team.
Hannah Hunter pitched 7.0 innings, earning the loss.
The Tigers will look to bounce back tomorrow, Sunday, February 4 against the Lions of Missouri Southern State at 2 p.m. at Henderson's Dee White Field.
The game against MSSU was originally scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. but was moved to Sunday due to increased rainfall Saturday night. Live stats will be available for tomorrow's game at OBUtigers.com/coverage.
