ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita softball seniors went out with a bang, walking off Northwestern Oklahoma State for the second game in a row to close out the 2024 season with a series sweep.
Erin Williams picked up right where she left off yesterday and gave Ouachita an early lead over Northwestern with a solo home run to center field. After two scoreless innings, the Rangers took the lead with two runs in the fourth. But Williams hit her third straight home run, a solo shot to right field and Williams' 10th of the year and 20th of her career, to tie the game at 2-2.
Ouachita broke the 2-2 tie in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI sacrifice bunt by
Remington Adams that scored Bailey King and gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead. It felt like momentum was on the side of Ouachita headed in the seventh inning, but the Rangers had more fight left, retaking the lead with a two-run homer in the top of the frame to make the score 4-3. The Tigers worked out of a jam to limit the damage to just the two runs.
Like the night before, Ouachita went into the bottom of the seventh trailing, this time just by one.
Katelyn Provence worked a one-out walk to get the tying run aboard. Senior
Emma McCorkle hit a two-out RBI double, her first extra-base hit of the season, to score Provence and tie the game at 4-4. Then, senior
Lauren Lester delivered the final blow, an RBI single to right field that let McCorkle come home from second to walk it off and give the Tigers a 5-4 victory, a series sweep over the Rangers, and end the 2024 season on a five-game winning streak.
Prior to the game, the Tigers recognized five seniors, all of which played big roles in today's win. The senior class includes
Hannah Hunter,
Emma McCorkle,
Maggi Huddleston,
Lauren Lester, and
Erin Williams. These five seniors have played big roles for Ouachita softball in their careers and their presence will be missed.
In the Senior Day win:
- Hunter got the start and pitched 6.1 innings, struck out three and gave up just six hits in the win.
- McCorkle went 1-for-3 with an RBI, a double, and scored the game-winning run.
- Maggi Huddleston came in to close out the game in the circle, forced two groundouts, and earned the win.
- Lester went 1-for-3 with a walk and drove in the game-winning run.
- Williams went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI thanks to her two solo home runs.
Williams has made a place for herself in the Ouachita record books after this season as well. The Stuttgart, Arkansas native ranks first in single-season triples with five, second in career triples with seven, second in career slugging percentage with a .572, fourth in career OPS with a .942, and fifth in single-season slugging percentage with a .649 this season.
With today's win, the Tigers wrap up the 2024 season with a five-game winning streak, the longest streak since the 2021 season, which was also five wins in a row, including a sweep over NWOSU.
In the first year of the
Jeff Jackson era, the Tigers saw improvement in a number of statistical categories including wins, hits, home runs, and Ouachita lowered its team ERA by more than a point compared to last season. The Tigers also saw improvements in those areas that don't show up in box scores but can be seen on the field. Ouachita finished higher in the conference standings than last season and placed one spot above where the GAC preseason poll predicted. With the 2024 season over, things are looking up for Ouachita softball.
