DENISON, Texas – The Ouachita softball team split its final doubleheader of the season against the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, falling 7-3 in game one and winner 5-2 in game two on Saturday.
Saturday's doubleheader was moved to Grayson College in Denison, Texas due to field conditions at Southeastern's facility in Durant.
Game One: Southeastern Oklahoma State 7, Ouachita 3
Ouachita struck first in the series opener with a solo home run from
Remington Adams, her fifth of the season, to give the Tigers an early lead in the top of the second. However, Southeastern answered with a run in bottom of the second to tie things back up. The Savage Storm added a run in the fourth inning to take their first lead of the game 2-1.
The Tigers got things going again in the fifth inning.
Jordyn Merrett hit a one-out single and
Corrin Caldwell came up big with a pinch-hit home run, the first of her collegiate career, to put Ouachita back in front 3-2.
Southeastern again answered in the fifth, this time for four runs to take a 6-3 lead. The Storm plated one more run in the sixth while holding Ouachita scoreless over the final two frames. The Tigers fell by the final score of 7-3 in game one.
Adams and
Jessalyn Ahrens tied to lead the offense with two hits each, both going 2-for-3 at the plate. Caldwell led in RBI with two.
Catie Amador got the start and pitched the first 5.2 innings but earned the loss.
Game Two: Ouachita 5, Southeastern 2
This time, it was Southeastern that struck first with a solo home run in the first. In the top of the second inning,
Remington Adams hit her second home run of the day, sixth of the season, to tie the game back up at 1-1.
The Tiger offense found a rhythm in the fourth inning.
Emily Reed set a ball out to left for her 11
th home run of the year to break up the tie. A few batters later,
Karley Burrow delivered a two-RBI single that scored Ahrens and
Paige Guhn to put Ouachita up by three.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth thanks to a solo home run from Ahrens. The Savage Storm scratched one across in the bottom of the sixth to close the gap to three. But the Tigers held strong in the seventh to earn the 5-2 victory, tying the series 1-1.
Five Tigers recorded hits in the win. Burrow led in RBI with two, and Ahrens led in runs scored with two.
Burrow got the start, struck out three, and gave up just one run across 4.0 innings of work to earn her third win of the season.
Kodee Batchelor pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up just one hit to earn her ninth save of the year, which ranks second in all of Division II so far this season.
Ouachita has now hit the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2021 season.
The Tigers will look to win the series in the season-finale rubber match tomorrow at noon in Durant, Oklahoma.
