Lady Eagle Softball drops first two of three-game series

Kendra Pierce takes a swing at home against UCO on March 3. — Senior Kendra Pierce takes a swing at home against the University of Central Oklahoma on March 3. *Online Photo*

The Lady Eagles recorded another road loss Thursday as they fell short to Texas A&M International University.

The Dustdevils shut out Oklahoma Christian 2-0 in the first game, and sealed a 7-5 lead in the second game.

According to Head Coach Tom Heath, despite the recent losses, the team has been able to put in extra work in practice.

“Try not to look at the outcome, but the process,” Heath said. “The team had a good conditioning workout yesterday as well as working on their hitting.”

In the opener, there were no runs across the board until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Dustdevils hit a homerun to win the game. Oklahoma Christian had a total of seven hits, while Shea Coats only allowed the Dustdevils four hits in six innings.

Coats pitched an entire game and ended with eight strikeouts, reaching her season-high for a second time since the season-opener.

Before the game, Madison Nordyke said Oklahoma Christian has been fine-tuning its hitting in practice.

“We are just going to go out there and play our game,” Nordyke said. “We have been working mainly on hitting so we can put runs on the board.”

Kendra Pierce, Nikki Davidson and Kelsie Finch gave the Lady Eagles three hits in the first two innings. Nordyke advanced on a single to right field in the top of the fourth and again in the sixth, while Starr hit a single in the fifth and the seventh.

Pierce was able to extend her hitting streak to 16 games while going 4-for-4 with a homerun and three RBIs.

Finch put out nine Texas A&M International players, while Nordyke grabbed three outs. Jordan Chism and Haley Squier each contributed two outs. Nordyke said the Lady Eagles have been excelling at defense.

In game two, the Lady Eagles tied it up 3-3 in the third inning, but fell behind in the bottom of the fourth when Texas A&M International player Jessica Rivera singled to left field. Brittany Mussett then hit a homerun in the fifth and gave the Dustdevils a 7-3 lead over the Lady Eagles.

Oklahoma Christian had a chance at the top of the seventh when Pierce homered to left field for two runs, helping close the lead gap, but the offense failed to capitalized again.

According to Pierce, the score did not discourage Oklahoma Christian.

“I’m most proud of my team fighting back,” Pierce said. “It’s not easy fighting back when you are losing. We were able to fight back and stay within ourselves.”

Oklahoma Christian will face Texas A&M International again for the series finale today.