Photo by: Abby Bellow
The Oklahoma Christian University softball team’s victory over the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos marked the third time this season that the Lady Eagles have beaten a team either ranked in the Division II top 25 or receiving votes in the national poll.
Oklahoma Christian defeated the defending NCAA Division II champions in the first game of a doubleheader 3-1, extending the team’s winning streak to 11 games. The Lady Eagles scored all of their runs in the fourth inning, allowing the Bronchos’ solo run in the seventh.
“We are in a very competitive conference,” senior Sarah Endres said. “We are definitely making our presence known.”
The Lady Eagles entered the second game of the doubleheader looking to continue their winning streak, but fell to 8-3 after a six-run drive by the Bronchos in the sixth inning. It was Central Oklahoma’s Hannah Justus who put the Bronchos ahead with a three-run homer over the left-field fence.
“Our hitting and defense has been awesome almost all season, but the first two games of this series were a little rough for us,” Endres said. “We need to get back on track with our normal hitting and outstanding defense. We are constantly practicing on little things that we need to improve, but thankfully this season we don’t have a whole lot of fixing to do.”
The Lady Eagles defeated St. Edward’s University 3-2 with a home run in bottom of the seventh from senior Courtney Starr; they were unable to come up with another win against the Hilltoppers in the second game of the April 4 doubleheader, however. In game two, the Lady Eagles started off in the first inning with bases loaded, but couldn’t bring in a run. Oklahoma Christian led the game 2-1 until St. Edward’s tied the game up in the fifth inning, later taking the lead by bringing in two runs in the seventh.
The Lady Eagles faced off against St. Edward’s again on April 5, pulling out a 5-4 victory. Senior Martha Thomas knocked a three-run homer in the first inning to give Oklahoma Christian a 3-1 advantage, but the Hilltoppers responded with three runs in the second to take the lead, 4-3. Oklahoma Christian answered in the fifth with two runs to seal the game. The game earned the Lady Eagles third place in the conference standings, with Texas A&M-International in fourth place and St. Edward’s ranked fifth.
“I think we’re finally to that point of the season where we all know what to expect from each other and we’ve really meshed together to form a great team,” Endres said. “We’re all much closer now and it’s a great feeling.”
The Lady Eagles are currently ninth in the NCCAA rankings, based off the Burbridge Power Rating – a formula used by the national organization to seed regional and national tournaments. Oklahoma Christian was ranked seventh at the beginning of the season before falling to ninth last week. The Lady Eagles have continued to raise their score from 5.208 to 5.235 and then again to 5.278. The Lady Eagles’ doubleheader against Central Oklahoma was not used to determine the current rankings because the Bronchos are not a member of the NAIA.
“Based on our NCCAA ranking, it is definitely a huge possibility for us to head to nationals in May,” Endres said. “We’re all very excited and our exceptional play has put us in a great spot.”
Following the nonconference doubleheader against Cameron, the Lady Eagles will be traveling to San Antonio, Texas, for a three-game series against league-leading and No. 5-ranked St. Mary’s University.
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