Photo by: Abby Bellow
The Lady Eagles have been on a hot streak the last two weeks, winning four of their five games between April 5 and 13, largely because of the efforts of freshman pitcher Shea Coats.
Coats was honored for the first time as Heartland Conference pitcher of the week after throwing two back-to-back shutouts, including a one-hit shutout against NCAA Division II No. 3-ranked St. Mary’s University in a doubleheader on Sunday, April 13.
“We had a great pitching game by Shea Coats, amazing defense behind her, and then some timely hits by Jordan, Danielle and Kendra,” senior Lauren Pittman said. “It was a great game all around.”
Sophomore Danielle Collins had a two-run double in the second game against St. Mary’s. Junior Kendra Pierce followed with a double to right field, sending Collins home to make the score 3-0.
A troublesome sixth inning allowed the Rattlers’ leadoff batter to walk, but Coats soon recovered, allowing St. Mary’s only one hit – a one-out single by junior Taylor Vidrine. Coats struck out five and walked two while throwing her 12th complete game of the season.
The Lady Eagles softball team is 29-14 for the season, including the doubleheader they split with St. Mary’s in San Antonio. Oklahoma Christian University is the first Heartland team to beat St. Mary’s this season.
“We split with a team who is currently in the top five of the entire NCAA Division II, so we are really excited to try and beat them again,” senior outfielder Sarah Endres said before the second game of the series. “It’s awesome to beat them once, especially since we’re on the road, but we would love to win the series.”
The Lady Eagles did not play St. Mary’s on Monday due to rain and lightning, but Sunday’s victory secured Oklahoma Christian’s hold on third place in the conference.
“St. Mary’s is a very good ball club, but they are beatable,” Pittman said. “We struggled a little the first game, but came back in the second game. We played to our full capabilities and came out on top.”
The Lady Eagles won both games of the earlier doubleheader against the Cameron University Aggies on Tuesday, April 8, running away with the first game 9-0 and battling for the second to come out on top, 3-2.
“It’s really all about our offense in these types of situations – we run-ruled them the first game and then had a little trouble with them the second,” Endres said. “Typically, it just means we struggled with the pitching staff they used in one game and we didn’t in the other.”
During the first inning of the second game at Tom Heath Field, the Lady Eagles hit off Cameron junior Kelsey Watson. Pierce and freshman Niki Davidson each pulled a home run, and junior Courtney Starr scored an RBI, as well. Watson held out the rest of the game, however, making the 3-2 win for the Eagles a bit more of a challenge.
In the third inning, senior outfielder Lauren Chatigny caught a drive at the wall while the bases were loaded, a crucial play that barred the Aggies from scoring.
“Outfielders can win or lose a game and, at that point, Lauren saved us from them scoring three runs,” Head Softball Coach Tom Heath said. “She had a great game offensively as well.”
Chatigny had two RBIs, two runs and four putouts by the end of the doubleheader. As well as some solid defense, the games against Cameron allowed Oklahoma Christian to spread their offensive talent.
“During the first game we really swung well,” Heath said. “We did a great job scoring early and scoring a lot. A bunch of players came through offensively.”
“We’ve been focusing a lot of our time on base running, and it has really paid off,” Endres said. “We’re being super aggressive on the bases and getting more runs because of it.”
Senior first baseman Martha Thomas had a key hit and a tie-breaking single against St. Edward’s University on April 5.
“We had a lot of people step up at necessary times in that second game,” Endres said. “The good thing is we were able to sweep the series of a competitor that will most likely join Oklahoma Christian in [the] Heartland Conference in the future.”
Oklahoma Christian moved up to eight place in the National Christian College Athletic Association softball rankings. The most recent rankings did not include the sweep against Cameron.
“It’s been a great season so far, but it’s not close to being over yet,” Pittman said. “We have a lot more games to play, and hopefully a trip to nationals in the near future.”
The Lady Eagles have two more home games after Friday’s game at noon until they host the NCCAA Central Region Tournament starting May 8.
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