CONWAY, Ark. (Mar. 7, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian softball team saw continued success at the Central Baptist Tournament in Arkansas on Friday and Saturday as they claimed three out four games.
On Friday, the Lady Eagles first played Baker University (Kan.) and took a 2-1 win after scoring both runs in the seventh inning. Baker took the lead first scoring their lone run in the third and led the remainder of the game until the seventh when both Jade Tallbull and Michelle Miller made it home for the Lady Eagles.
Miller led at the plate with 2-for-3 hitting while Ashley Paxton tallied the win pitching a complete game and recording 11 strikeouts in the process.
Next on Friday evening, the OC women took on Lindenwood University in a close matchup that was decided in the eighth inning.
Both squads scored a run in the second to head into the third with a 1-1 tie before the Lady Eagles put up two more runs to take a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, however, the Lindenwood women tallied another score to trail OC 3-2 going into the fourth.
After a scoreless fourth, LU sent another runner home in the fifth to tie things back up at 3-3. The Lady Eagles scored another run in the sixth, but the LU women responded with two runs of their own to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final inning.
OC scored a run in the seventh to tie the game back up and send it into extra innings where the Lady Eagles tallied a score to take the game 6-5. Tallbull led at the plate with 2-for-4 hitting in addition to two RBI. Leigh Leonard took the win after pitching the final three innings and allowing no runs while tallying six strikeouts.
On Saturday, the Lady Eagles started things off against Avila University (Mo.) and took an easy 8-0 victory. OC scored four runs right off the bat in the first inning to lead 4-0 until the fifth when the Lady Eagles tallied four more runs to end the game early in a run rule.
Tallbull again led at the plate with perfect 3-for-3 hitting, three RBI, and two runs scored. Miller, Deidre Chatigny, and Lauren Walk all went 2-for-3 at the plate while Miller registered three RBI as well.
Leonard recorded another win after pitching the complete game and allowing no runs while registering five strikeouts.
The final game on Saturday gave the Lady Eagles some trouble as they fell in extra innings to Williams Baptist College (Ark.).
OC was the first to score with a run in the first before Williams Baptist responded with four runs of their own in the second. The Lady Eagles put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the inning to trail 4-3 heading into the third.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, a run by OC tied the game up at 4-4 before WBC hopped back into the lead with a single run in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the bottom of the sixth, however, the Lady Eagles scored to runs to tie the game at 6-6 heading into the final inning.
With neither squad able to score in the seventh, the game was left to the eighth inning where WBC scored a final run to take a 7-6 victory.
Despite the loss, Walk led at the plate with 3-for-5 hitting including two RBI and two runs scored. Kayla Jennings helped out as well with 2-for-4 hitting while Tallbull registered two RBI off of 1-for-3 hitting.
Following the close of the tournament, the Lady Eagles carry an 11-5 season record and still maintain a 5-3 record for conference play. The OC softball team will return to the OC softball field on Tuesday to host Central Christian College (Kan.) in a double heading starting at 1 p.m.
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