Photo by: Will Gentry
Due to inclement weather, the Oklahoma Christian University softball team’s home game against Cameron University on Tuesday was postponed. However, the Lady Eagles traveled to Odessa, Texas last Friday and Saturday to battle the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB).
“We approach every game as an important game because the competition we face is very tough,” Head Coach of Softball Tom Heath said. “This weekend, however, was our first conference series and was very important.”
The Lady Eagles’ 2013 season ended in the third round of the NCCAA Central Region Tournament with a 14-8 loss to Central Baptist University. According to senior Martha Thomas, the goal for this year’s team is to slow down the game and focus on each individual inning.
“Our goal before every game is to do our best one pitch at a time, one bat at a time and one inning at a time,” Thomas said. “If we can win every inning then there is no chance for us to lose.”
Oklahoma Christian split its two games in Odessa last Friday, winning the first game 3-0 and then flipping the score to lose the second game. On Saturday, the Lady Eagles sealed the series with a 6-2 win over UTPB.
In the fifth inning, freshman Shea Coats relieved freshman Haley Squier to record her third save of the season and clinch the win over UTPB, giving the Lady Eagles their first Heartland Conference series victory of the season.
“It’s always great to go on the road and win the series in conference play,” Heath said. “Although I think our team was fully capable of sweeping the series, I’m proud of how they fought to come back and win the third game.”
Offensively, junior Courtney Starr came through with two hits, two runs, and three RBIs in Saturday’s game, including a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.
According to Thomas, senior Lauren Pittman refused to let her faltering at-bats determine how her next effort was going to go. Late in the game on Saturday, she had a timely hit that brought in the winning runners.
“Our performance this week was a rollercoaster,” Thomas said. “Friday’s games were not our best offensive performance, but Saturday we proved what we are capable of doing offensively. Our defense has been improving, and we did well this weekend. I wouldn’t say that I am completely satisfied with our performance this weekend; there are some things that we need to work on as a team to improve.”
UTPB’s pitcher was a startling change of pace, according to Thomas.
“The biggest challenge in this game was adjusting to their pitcher, who was slower than what we have faced so far,” Thomas said. “We all made the adjustment on Saturday.”
According to Heath, this year’s squad is full of talent, making it difficult to find a spot for each player during the seven innings.
“We have a great pitching staff, a very solid defense and extremely great hitters,” Heath said. “One of the biggest challenges is finding a way to put all of these together each game.”
According to Thomas, the team’s resolve to battle through tough situations in games is encouraging.
“In the second game on Friday, UTPB put up three runs in the first inning,” Thomas said. “It was great to see that it didn’t take us down because we shut them down the rest of the game. We did a good job of not carrying over the mistakes to the next inning and we fought offensively to come back. Unfortunately the game didn’t end up in our favor.”
The Lady Eagles currently hold an 8-7 season record and a Heartland Conference record of 2-1. Players viewed this weekend as additional practice for the team to improve.
“As a team lately, we haven’t been putting hits together to score the runners that are on base,” Thomas said. “This can be really frustrating, and it makes the mental side of the game the key to winning. However, I feel that this weekend was a good learning experience for the team. We came together to play hard and win the series on the road, which is huge. We need to carry this over to our next games on Tuesday against Cameron University.”
The Lady Eagles’ game against Cameron will be made up later in the season. The women will play Southwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday.
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