OC-RSU box
OC-MACU box
OC-LCU box
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (May 1, 2009) – The fourth-seeded Oklahoma Christian University softball team exited in the consolation bracket of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday.
The Lady Eagles lost to fifth-seeded Rogers State University (Okla.) 6-0 to enter the loser's bracket. From there, Oklahoma Christian blanked Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 7-0 before dropping a 6-2 decision to defending NAIA national champion Lubbock Christian University (Texas).
The Lady Eagles end the season at 33-19 and 15-9 in the SAC. OC won seven of its final eight regular-season games to finish above the 30-win mark for the second-straight year.
In the first round, Rogers State led 3-0 after three innings despite only getting two hits off OC starter Leigh Leonard. After Jenny Johnson hit a RBI single in the first, the Hillcats scored unearned runs in the second and third to go up by three.
OC's biggest threat came in the second when they loaded the bases with two outs on walks from Cara Miller and Christin Dobbs and a base hit from Kayla Jennings. But the big hit never came and the Lady Eagles stayed scoreless, and didn't mount another significant push.
The Hillcats tacked on another run in the sixth before adding two insurance runs in the seventh.
Leonard was tagged with the loss to fall to 11-5. The sophomore gave up five hits and struck out eight. Only three of the six runs were earned after the OC defense committed five errors.
Dobbs, Amy Urbanovsky, Tiffany Sherman and Jennings accounted for the Lady Eagles' four hits as Johnson improved to 29-20 for RSU.
The Lady Eagles regained their hitting form against Mid-America Christian. OC outhit MACU 15-2 en route to the easy win.
The Lady Eagles plated three runs in the first on RBI doubles from Urbanovsky and Sherman, and a RBI single from Casey Brady.
It was 6-0 through three thanks to a Brady run-scoring groundout and RBI singles from Noles and Jennings.
Then Urbanovsky led off the sixth with a solo home run that crept over the centerfield fence to pad OC's lead to 7-0.
Caitlin Matthis stifled the Lady Evangels with her first shutout of the season. She improved to 9-5 on the year with three strikeouts and only one walk.
Urbanovsky led the way at the plate at 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Noles also went 3-for-4 and Canady and Brady were each 2-for-4.
The win set up an elimination game against No. 2-ranked Lubbock Christian. The Lady Chaps were upset by Oklahoma Baptist earlier in the day. Three errors once again plagued the Lady Eagles in the game, as LCU scored three unearned runs.
LCU's Honda Rodriguez led off the game with a solo shot and the score was still 1-0 after three innings. Urbanovsky followed suit in the fourth with her second bomb of the day to knot the score at 1-1.
But the Lady Chaparrals responded with a three-run fourth before single-run outputs in the fifth and sixth.
OC tried to mount a comeback in the seventh after Brady singled home Dobbs to make it 7-2. But the run would be the Lady Eagles' last of the day, and LCU moved on to Saturday.
Brady went 3-for-4 and Dobbs was 2-for-4. Leonard went the distance to fall to 11-6 with three strikeouts and six runs (three earned) on nine hits.
-OC
