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Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 25, 2014) – Wild doesn't begin to describe what transpired in the second game of Oklahoma Christian's softball doubleheader on Friday night against Texas A&M International.
When everything was finished, OC freshman pitcher
Shea Coats had broken the school's single-season record for saves and tied the career mark and the Lady Eagles completed another sweep with a crazy-as-it-sounds 15-12 win at Tom Heath Field – after rallying from a 7-0 deficit.
Coats threw a two-hitter and struck out 14 batters – matching her season high – and
Kendra Pierce homered twice in the first game, leading OC to an 8-1 win. The Lady Eagles will go for the series sweep on Saturday at noon, with Senior Day festivities starting about 11:40 a.m.
"Our hitters hung in there and didn't panic and got some big-time hits," OC coach Tom Heath said. "We hit the ball hard and scored a lot of runs and several people stepped up and got the job done."
OC (34-14, 16-6 Heartland Conference) already had clinched a third-place regular-season league finish. Texas A&M International (19-33, 10-13) is in fifth place, a game ahead of Texas-Permian Basin, with one game remaining, but the Dustdevils already have qualified for the conference tournament because two teams ahead of them – Lubbock Christian (Texas) and OC – are not eligible to play in the event.
Friday's first game went pretty much to form. Coats, who has been the Heartland's most dominant pitcher in recent weeks, surrendered both of TAMIU's hits in the fourth inning – doubles by Chelsea Capello and Brittany Mussett. Mussett's run-scoring hit ended Coats' streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 30 and her run of shutouts at four straight.
But by that time, OC already was firmly in control.
Courtney Starr's RBI double keyed a three-run first inning against TAMIU starter Kyndall Reaves (6-11) and in the third, Pierce hit the first of her two solo homers to make it 4-0.
After TAMIU scored, the Lady Eagles answered with
Danielle Collins' two-run pinch-hit double in the bottom of the fourth.
Monique Elliott's single in the fifth scored
Niki Davidson, who had doubled, and Pierce homered again over the left-field wall in the sixth.
Coats (19-2) retired TAMIU's first 10 batters and twice struck out the side, in the third and fifth innings. She now has won 17 straight decisions after a 2-2 start.
The second game wasn't so predictable, with the teams combining for five three-run homers and 29 hits in addition to the 27 runs.
TAMIU jumped to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first against OC starter
Taylor Mosher, with Mariena Gallardo, then Cassie Garcia, smashing three-run homers. Pierce had a two-run double and Collins added a three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole off TAMIU starter Sarah Johnson (6-11) in the bottom of the first, pulling OC within 7-5.
After a solo home run by Cassie DeLeon in the second, the Lady Eagles scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 9-8, with
Martha Thomas hitting a three-run homer, her 10th longball of the season.
The Dustdevils went back up 11-9 on their third three-run homer, this one by Brenda Parnin in the third inning.
Haley Squier came on in relief for OC to slow down the Dustdevils, allowing time for the Lady Eagles to rally again. Squier (3-5) allowed four hits in 3 2/3 innings of work.
"Haley came in and ate up some really good innings to help us out," Heath said.
OC broke through against Johnson again in the fifth for five runs, with
Lauren Chatigny's triple and doubles by Pierce and Thomas the big blows.
With OC up 15-11 entering the seventh, Squier ran into trouble, as TAMIU's first two batters reached base, allowing the Dustdevils to cut the deficit to three runs. Coats entered the game and retired the next three TAMIU batters to earn her sixth save of the season.
That broke the OC single-season mark of five, set by Sophia McKeen in 2009 and matched by Ashley Paxton in 2012. Paxton and Coats now co-hold the OC career saves record with six.
"That's a good thing about Shea," Heath said. "She can come in on short notice, without a lot of warmup time, and just blow people away. She's got that kind of stuff. She's done us a good job."
Six Lady Eagles finished with multiple hits in the game –
Kala Ratliff, Chatigny and Pierce with three each and Thomas, Collins and Elliott with two each. Collins and Thomas each had four RBIs. For TAMIU, DeLeon, Parrin and Desiree Ramos each had three hits.
"I knew our kids were capable of putting up some numbers," Heath said. "It was just a matter of being patient. … I was really proud of the comeback. The energy was awesome from our players. They showed as much energy and as much enthusiasm as they did when we were up seven runs."
