ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita dropped the opener of its final homestand Thursday night, falling 5-4 to Northwestern Oklahoma State at Langston Field.

The Rangers capitalized on three throwing errors to take four separate leads. Northwestern struck first as a throwing error placed runners on the corners before junior Jaime Molina delivered an RBI single into center to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead. Ouachita instantly answered in the bottom of the first as redshirt-senior Remington Adams retaliated with a leadoff home run.

Northwestern regained momentum in the third as junior Kaylee Madden beat out an infield single, then later scored on a sequence that included another Molina single and a Ouachita throwing error. The Rangers extended the lead when senior Taygan Graham lifted a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Molina from third as the throw to the plate was dropped before the catcher could apply the tag. 

Ouachita slugger Emily Reed responded and launched an opposite-field home run over the right-field wall to match the single-season program record with the 13th homer of her junior campaign. Freshmen Addison Davidson and Alaina Lyle followed with consecutive doubles to tie the game at 3-3.

Molina continued her strong day with a sacrifice fly later in the fifth to put the Rangers back in front. Ouachita answered again with two runners on base as Lyle singled up the middle. Both players dueled at the plate and led their team with game-highs of three hits and two RBI. Graham led off with an infield single and advanced into scoring position following another errant throw, then freshman Jazmine Mikel came off the bench and delivered a pinch-hit RBI single into shallow center to drive in the go-ahead run, which proved to be the difference.

The Tigers could not break through against Northwestern junior reliever Madelyn Cason, who retired seven of the final eight batters to secure the series opener win. Sophomore Catie Amador took the loss, despite allowing just two earned runs in a complete-game outing. Ouachita matched Northwestern to tie it up in the first, third and fifth innings, but never took a lead at any point of the series opener loss. The Tigers fell to 14-27 overall and 10-15 in Great American Conference play, while the Rangers improved to 12-31 and 5-20 in league action.

Ouachita hosts Northwestern in a doubleheader on Friday, with first pitch set for noon at Langston Field.