The Lady Eagles surrendered a mere four total runs in a three-game sweep of Rogers State University last weekend due to shutout pitching and a fifth inning rally.
Madison Hagood and Kaylie Upton both threw shutouts en route to two run-rule endings the first day, and a five-run fifth inning was the key for the third game win.
Utility player Sheridan Bond said that the team’s victory on Friday was an all–around team effort.
“I thought we did a really good job taking care of business on Friday evening,” Bond said. “Everyone contributed in the batting lineup, defense made some really good plays and Madison Hagood and Kaylie Upton did a great job staying composed in the circle.”
The first game of the series, Hagood allowed three hits and no runs from the Hillcats, and RBI singles from both Kayla Eichler and Bridget White began the scoring in the first inning to take the lead 3-0.
White singled again in the second inning, which fueled a four-run inning to extend the lead to 7-0. Eichler’s single in the bottom of the sixth scored Alexus Vanlandingham, who pinch ran for Kelsie Finch, to seal the run-rule for Oklahoma Christian University.
Upton continued the shutout-pitching day for the Lady Eagles, tossing a two-hit shutout through five innings the second game.
Five consecutive base hits for the Lady Eagles began the five-run fourth inning that built a 6-0 lead, highlighted by a two-run homer from Kirsten Scott. Eichler and Davidson’s RBI singles finished off the run-rule in the fifth inning and closed out the doubleheader win.
Oklahoma Christian struggled in the final game of the series, as the Lady Eagles trailed 3-1 until the fifth inning, when a five-run, bottom-of-the-fifth sacrifice fly from Lacey Davidson made it 6-3.
Hagood allowed another run in the seventh inning, but Nordyke came in to close the door and earn her third save this season.
Bond said that Saturday’s win to finish the sweep was all about “waiting for the bats to get hot.”
“Saturday, I thought we did a really good job of keeping ourselves in the game until we were finally able to get the bats going and score some runs,” Bond said.
Bond said this weekend was good for the team’s conference standings.
“Overall it was a really good weekend for us,” Bond said. “We did exactly what we needed to do in order to hold our standing in conference. We are playing really well as a team right now. If that continues through the rest of the regular season, we have put ourselves in really good shape for post-season play.”
The Lady Eagles host Texas A&M University-Commerce on Tuesday at 4 and 6 p.m..
Statistics provided by the Oklahoma Christian University Sports Information office.
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