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Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 10, 2015) –
Shea Coats shut down the Heartland Conference's top hitting softball team and
Monique Elliott keyed a big inning for Oklahoma Christian, giving the Lady Eagles something that had eluded them for four seasons – a win over powerful Lubbock Christian (Texas).
Coats struck out 11 and threw a complete-game four-hitter as OC downed the conference leaders 5-1 on Friday at
Tom Heath Field. Lubbock Christian responded with a 9-0, five-inning win over the Lady Eagles in the second game of the doubleheader.
OC (21-14, 9-8 Heartland) and Lubbock Christian (30-10, 17-2) will play the decisive game of the series on Saturday at noon.
Dating back to the days when both schools were members of the NAIA's Sooner Athletic Conference, the Lady Chaparrals have held the upper hand against OC, bringing a 24-3 all-time record against the Lady Eagles into the series. Lubbock Christian hadn't visited OC since February 2011, when the Lady Chaparrals fell 9-3. LCU had won 12 straight games over OC since that loss.
But Coats (10-7) proved to be the great equalizer for OC. LCU took a 1-0 lead in the second, when Coats hit Liz Torres with a pitch and pinch-runner Abi Poe eventually scored on a double by Molly Davison, but the Lady Chaparrals managed only two more hits the rest of the game.
OC answered with a four-run bottom of the second. LCU starter Courtney McGee (16-5) walked
Sheridan Bond and
Jordan Chism before
Niki Davidson singled to load the bases. Bond scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, and with one out, Elliott hit a two-run triple. She later scored to make it 4-1.
Elliott drove home Davidson with an insurance run in the sixth for OC and finished 3-for-4 for the game.
In the second game, Lubbock Christian picked up a two-run home run from Jessica Loiacano in the first inning and another two-run shot in the second from Katlin Reed to take a 4-0 lead. The Lady Chaparrals added four more runs – all unearned – with two outs in the third, with Addison Ard delivering a two-run single.
Haley Squier (3-2) took the pitching loss for OC while Kelsey Hoppel (9-2) – also a star on LCU's basketball team – allowed four hits while going the distance. The game ended after five innings due to the run rule.
