Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 22, 2017) – In a softball game between quality teams, it's often the little things that give a team an edge, and that happened for No. 19-ranked St. Mary's (Texas) on Saturday afternoon in the decisive game of its series at Oklahoma Christian.

Behind Madison Hagood's four-hitter, OC rolled to a 6-0 win in the opening game of the doubleheader at Tom Heath Field, but St. Mary's pitcher Ashley Mills tossed a one-hitter in the second game to lead the Rattlers to a 2-0 win that gave them the series.

St. Mary's (37-12, 13-5 Heartland Conference) put itself in position to clinch the league's regular-season title next week, while OC (29-20, 11-7) dropped into third place in a closely contested race, missing a chance to move into the league lead.

"We played well and we pitched extremely well," OC coach Tom Heath said. "I was pleased. The thing about it is, even their coach, they know how good we are. The best teams in the conference, I really believe, have a lot of respect for our team. I fully expect us to do real well and win that conference tournament."

OC was twice within a strike of winning the series opener on Thursday, but the Rattlers scored twice in the seventh inning to tie and eventually won 7-4 in 11 innings. In Saturday's opener, when the Lady Eagles blew out to an early lead, they didn't allow St. Mary's to rally.

Kaylie Upton's solo home run to right field off St. Mary's starter Jorden Russell (15-6) in the second inning put OC ahead and the Lady Eagles used small ball to score four runs on just two hits in the third inning, Madison Nordyke's bunt single and Bridget White's line drive just over the shortstop's outstreteched arm each brought home a run.

Consecutive two-out singles by Lacey Davidson, Caitlin Young and Sheridan Bond gave OC an insurance run in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Hagood (14-9) was masterful, facing the minimum number of batters through three innings and retiring 10 consecutive Rattlers in another stretch.

In the second game, Nordyke (6-7) and Mills (12-2) each carried a perfect game into the fourth inning in the circle. Two walks to lead off the fourth gave OC its best scoring chance, but St. Mary's shortstop Miranda Medina retired the lead runner, Sheridan Bond, at third base on a ground ball by Niki Davidson. That proved key when a wild pitch moved up the OC baserunners to second and third. Mills then retired White on another grounder to end the threat.

Another small thing led to the Rattlers' first run in the fifth. Medina went from first to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Liz Phillips, then scored on a single up the middle by Ally Ortiz. In the sixth, Alena Moreno hit a leadoff double to right field for St. Mary's, then scored when a popup by Raynelle Nash was lost in the sun.

OC hit the ball hard on several occasions but the Lady Eagles' only hit was a leadoff single to left field by Niki Davidson in the seventh inning.

"We hit the ball real hard," Heath said. "Line shots to center field, Bridget ripped one, but right at people."

The Lady Eagles will close the regular season with a three-game series at Rogers State starting Friday, and Heath said his team needs to remain focused to finish as high as possible in the league race.

"We just need to go to Rogers and take care of business," he said. "We're going to talk about that Monday. We don't want to have that play-in game at the conference tournament."

Senior Day highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN-xjpdZBeI&feature=youtu.be

Senior Day video, featuring Haley Squier and Niki Davidson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kDu84IWTx8