Photo by: Will Gentry
The Lady Eagles softball squad won three of five games at the Rattler Softball Invitational, hosted by Heartland Conference rival St. Mary’s University last weekend. These three wins redeemed Oklahoma Christian University of its first two home game losses earlier last week, according to junior Krystal Rodriguez.
“On Tuesday I don’t think we played to our best ability, but this past weekend I thought we kind of came together and were more successful,” Rodriguez said.
Oklahoma Christian suffered two losses in some of their first games at the new Tom Heath Field at Lawson Plaza.
“[The games] definitely could have been better unfortunately,” junior Taylor Mosher said.
Rodriguez agreed, specifically about the low energy level and discouragement of the team.
“When we played [West Texas A&M] I think we struggled a lot both offensively and defensively,” Rodriguez said. “Our biggest challenge for that game was making sure we were pumped up in the dugout even though we weren’t playing our best and to not let mistakes that happened in previous innings keep us down.”
After the home game losses, however, Oklahoma Christian traveled to San Antonio, Texas. Their first victory was a 7-5 win over Eastern New Mexico on Friday afternoon. They played in the eight-team event at the Park at St. Mary’s; later that day, the Lady Eagles fell to Midwestern State University 8-5.
Oklahoma Christian led in the first game, but Eastern New Mexico (6-7) ended up pulling within 3-2 in the bottom of the first inning against Lady Eagles’ starter Mosher (2-2). The women answered with a four-run fourth inning as sophomore Danielle Collins hit a homerun and senior Lauren Chatigny delivered a run-scoring triple.
The Midwestern State Mustangs led 2-0 after three innings. Oklahoma Christian was able to tie the game in the top of the fourth due to an RBI triple by senior Lauren Pittman and a single by junior Courtney Starr.
The Mustangs fought back, putting up two runs in the bottom of the fourth before Pierce’s home run – which followed walks to Chatigny and junior Monique Elliott – gave Oklahoma Christian a 5-4 lead.
On Feb. 22, freshman pitcher Shea Coats recorded two wins, while sophomore Danielle Collins and senior Martha Thomas had key hits as Oklahoma Christian won a pair of games in the Rattler Softball Invitational, beating Eastern New Mexico 8-5 and the Tarleton State University Texanns 4-2.
“This week kind of let us see what we need to work on still and where people fit in the lineup,” Rodriguez said.
The two losses Oklahoma Christian suffered in San Antonio were against Midwestern State on Feb. 21 and Western Oregon on Feb. 23.
“We could have played better defense and improved on timely hitting with runners in scoring positing,” Head Coach of Softball Tom Heath said.
The final game in the Rattler Softball Invitation against Western Oregon was a close loss of 5-4 after a seventh-inning rally fell short. Senior Sarah Endres scored to make it 5-4, but a solid Western Oregon pitching performance and durable defense extinguished the Lady Eagles’ hopes of taking the lead.
In the final inning freshman pinch-hitter Niki Davidson grounded out, but senior Kala Ratliff reached base on a two-out error, giving Oklahoma Christian two runners on base. Western Oregon starter Eryka Brill (2-1) proved up to the challenge though, retiring freshman pinch-hitter Jordan Chism on a ground ball for the final out.
Heath thought the close call was just due to inconsistency, rather than a lack of skill or knowledge.
“We need work on all phases of the game, but the main thing is being more constant each game,” Heath said. “Some games we have good pitching and defense but might not hit well as a team. Some games we hit great but do not play as well on defense.”
Overall, the team and coach said they were pleased with the games and how they played.
“I felt good about the way we competed this past weekend,” Heath said. “We had a chance to play some very good teams and had an opportunity to play several players. I was pleased.”
In the win against the Eastern New Mexico Zias, freshman Haley Goodin’s single down the left-field line put the Lady Eagles ahead of the Zias 2-0 in the second inning.
The Lady Eagles made it 5-0 in the top of the third against Eastern New Mexico starter Mary Jo Granger, running away with the victory.
“In the games we won, we had energy in the dugout and on the field the entire game,” Rodriguez said. “And everybody in the lineup was getting on base and moving batters on bases.”
Heath echoed Rodriguez’s thoughts about the team’s energy.
“We played hard every game and never gave up until the last out,” Heath said.
The Lady Eagles play Texas-Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas Friday and Saturday, followed by a series of home games starting Tuesday, March 4.
0
0
Be First to Comment