Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY (April 7, 2017) – Oklahoma Christian's good pitching beat the good hitting of Lubbock Christian (Texas) twice – barely – on Friday at Tom Heath Field.

OC hurlers Madison Hagood and Madison Nordyke combined to limit one of the Heartland Conference's best-hitting softball teams to eight hits over 14 innings, lifting the Lady Eagles to a 2-1, 3-2 doubleheader sweep and giving them a huge league series win.

The two wins, combined with two home losses by St. Mary's (Texas) to Newman (Kan.), moved OC (26-16, 8-3 Heartland) into a tie for second place in the conference standings, behind Texas A&M International. The Lady Eagles will try to complete the series sweep of Lubbock Christian (23-14, 5-6) on Saturday at noon.

Lubbock Christian, which made the NCAA Division II tournament last season, entered the series leading the Heartland in team batting average at .316, but the Chaparrals had few chances to score against Hagood and Nordyke.

Hagood (12-7) allowed Lubbock Christian only six hits and shut down most of the Chaparrals' opportunities. LCU loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning on two hits and an error, but Hagood then struck out the next three batters to end the threat. The Chaparrals had a runner reach third base with one out in the third, but Hagood coaxed groundouts from the next two batters.

Meanwhile, OC staked her to a quick 2-0 lead. LCU starter Katera Eltsosie (12-5) hit Sheridan Bond with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first and Bridget White's bloop single eventually scored Bond. In the second, Lacey Davidson hit a leadoff triple to center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kaylie Upton.

Lubbock Christian's lone run came in the fifth inning, when Annika Schwartzenberg reached on a bloop infield single and came around on a two-out single to left field by Casey Ingram.

Both teams missed out on great late scoring opportunities. The Lady Eagles didn't score despite consecutive triples by Haley Squier and Nordyke in the bottom of the fifth, because Squier was thrown out trying to score after the ball briefly got away from Schwartzenberg, LCU's third baseman. Left fielder Alyssa Hanks backed up the play, though, and threw out Squier.

Addison Ard singled to start the seventh inning for LCU, and with two outs, pinch-runner Adelae Vayas was on second base when Courtney Medina sent a drive to center field that looked destined to fall for extra bases, but Upton sprinted and dove to spear the ball just before it hit the turf, ending the game.

Nordyke (5-5) was nearly unhittable in the second game. She retired the first 16 batters she faced before Lindzi Clemmer's single to right field with one out in the sixth.

Nordyke reached on an infield single off LCU pitcher Katlyn Holmes (4-3) in the fourth inning and scored on a throwing error by catcher Roxy Curiel. The Lady Eagles added two insurance runs in the sixth, when Kayla Eichler's single to right field scored Nordyke (who had doubled) and pinch-runner Kenysha Noland. Noland was running for Niki Davidson, who reached after umpires ruled that LCU first baseman Cassie Sutton had not officially reported into the game, wiping out an apparent groundout by Davidson.

Those insurance runs loomed large in the seventh when, with one out, Nordyke walked Casey Ingram before Sydney Beuthien's long fly ball to left field just eluded Squier and went over the fence, pulling the Chaparrals within 3-2.

Hagood entered in relief and quickly retired Eltsosie and Hanks to end the game and pick up her fourth save of the season. It also was the sixth save of Hagood's career, tying her with former OC standout Shea Coats for the program's record in that category. Hagood lowered her league-leading ERA to 1.49 in the process.