ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita softball team started off the 2025 season in good fashion after taking down Missouri S&T 6-2 and Northwest Missouri State 5-4 to open the McGhee Hawkins Invitational on Friday at Langston Field.
Game One; Ouachita 6, Missouri S&T 2
After a scoreless opening frame, Ouachita opened up the offense in the bottom of the second inning. Katelynn Provence got the scoring started with a two RBI single that scored
Jessalyn Ahrens and
Kennedy Wilkie.
Rylee Gentzel kept it going with her first collegiate home run, a two-run homer to left center that put the Tigers up 4-0 early.
Ouachita added to its lead in the third when Wilkie came home on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. After holding the Miners hitless in the fourth,
Baylee King doubled to center field, scoring
Jordyn Merrett and making it 6-0 in favor of the Tigers.
Missouri S&T broke up the shutout bid in the top of the sixth inning and added another run in the top of the seventh inning to make it a 6-2 ballgame. The Miners put two runners on with two outs and the tying run on deck, but the Tigers held strong and forced a ground out to secure the 6-2 victory and start 2025 off with a win.
Ahrens paced the offense by going 3-for-3 at the place with a run scored.
Merrett and Provence each recorded two hits and a run scored of their own. Provence added two RBI to the with Gentzel for the team lead.
Catie Amador earned her first collegiate win in the circle after throwing 5.1 innings, striking out four, and allowing just one run.
Kodee Batchelor came in to get the final out and earn her first save of the season.
Game Two: Ouachita 5, Northwest Missouri State 4
The second game of the McGhee-Hawkins Invitational started with Northwest Missouri jumping out to a 3-0 lead in top of the first. Both teams posted scoreless second innings and Ouachita held the Bearcats to just one hit in the top of the third before waking up in the bottom half.
The Tigers got on the board after a King RBI double that scored Merrett from second. Ouachita closed the gap to just one point after
Emily Reed singled to score King one batter later. During the next at bat, Reed got caught between first and second base, allowing
Remington Adams to score and tie the game 3-3.
Ouachita took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Gentzel RBI sacrifice fly that score Ahrens and put the Tigers up 4-3. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Bearcats tied the game up 4-4 to force the Tigers to the bottom of the seventh.
The Tigers had two outs and a runner on first when King singled up the middle to push Merrett into scoring position. Adams called game with an RBI single to right field that scored Merrett and Ouachita walked off Northwest Missouri State 5-4 to start the season 2-0.
Merrett and King both lead the team with two hits each. Merrett posted two runs scored and King recorded a run and an RBI.
A total of seven Tigers tallied hits and four recorded RBIs in the win.
Tuesday Melton got the start in the circle and struck out four in 6.2 innings.
Batchelor came in and again recorded the final out for the Tigers on defense, this time earning her first win of the season.
Ouachita is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2016. And the Tigers will look to tie and surpass that season's opening mark of 3-0 tomorrow when they face off against Christian Brothers University at 1 p.m. followed by Northeastern State at 3 p.m. for Day Two of the McGhee-Hawkins Invitational at Langston Field in Arkadelphia.
