Box Score SAN ANTONIO (May 6, 2018) – When the longest game in Oklahoma Christian softball history ended Sunday, senior pitcher Madison Nordyke squatted in the circle for a few moments, considering what had just happened while Rogers State players celebrated.

After a 3½-hour marathon, second-seeded OC came up agonizingly short, falling 5-4 in 13 innings to the fifth-seeded Hillcats in the championship round of the Heartland Conference tournament at the St. Mary's (Texas) field.  OC didn't trail until the final play and looked to have the game won on several occasions, only to have Rogers State rally each time.

Sometimes, it just isn't meant to be, and that's what the Lady Eagles were trying to process after making their first appearance in Heartland tournament's championship round.

"All of us really wanted it and we were playing for each other," Nordyke said. "Everyone knew if someone got out, the next person would pick them up. Everybody just went out there and put it on the line and played for each other and came up short. Congratulations to Rogers, but we gave it everything we could."

The loss likely ended OC's season at 32-25, barring an unlikely change of heart by the NCAA Division II tournament committee before pairings are announced Monday morning. Rogers State (39-18), which went 0-5 against OC during the regular season but 2-0 during the postseason, earned the Heartland's automatic spot in the national tournament.

OC would have needed to win the marathon game, then win again Sunday, to take the Heartland tournament title. But the Lady Eagles believed until the very end that would happen.

"I think we needed one more inning today," said senior Sheridan Fuller, who like Nordyke was a four-year starter for OC. "I think we were starting to hit (the Rogers State pitcher) really hard in that last inning. We needed one more and we would have had it. Unfortunately, they caught a break that we didn't catch. Ultimately, that's what won them the ball game.

"This team … has just banded together and decided that we were going to do everything for every single other person on the team. We're a very mentally tough team. I think that showed today. I don't know what else you could ask for in a championship game."

The game lasted an inning longer than OC's two previous longest games, 12-inning affairs against Houston Baptist (Texas) in the 2003 NAIA tournament and last season in a game at St. Edward's (Texas). OC won both those games 1-0.

The game Sunday also matched the longest in Heartland history, as only seven games ever involving a league team have lasted 13 innings. Both teams had plenty of opportunity to end the game earlier, as OC left 15 runners on base and Rogers State stranded 14. The Hillcats left two runners on base in the eighth, 10th and 12th innings, while OC left the bases loaded in the 12th.

Nordyke's two-run single gave OC a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Rylee DeLozier's solo home run in the bottom of the second pulled the Hillcats within 2-1 and they tied the game in the fifth when Tailee Reding's single up the middle scored Merissa Smith, who had reached on a dropped fly ball.

OC regained the lead in the sixth, loading the bases with consecutive singles by Kirsten Scott, Hunter Strickland and Madison Hagood – the latter her first collegiate hit, on a bunt. That chased Rogers State starter Alex Brake, with reliever Andrea Morales (15-7) going the final 7 2/3 innings for the Hillcats in the circle. Fuller's sacrifice fly off Morales scored pinch-runner Daelyn Denny.

Smith hit a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh and scored on a single by Reding, forcing extra innings. OC went back ahead in the 10th, when Kaylie Upton doubled with one out and scored on a single to left field by Scott. But the Hillcats answered in the bottom of the inning, as Danelle Day walked and eventually scored on a single by DeLozier.

In the bottom of the 13th, Nordyke (7-8) quickly recorded two outs before Reding doubled to left field and advanced to third base on a passed ball. Megan Porter, in only her third at-bat all season, hit a bouncer to the left side of the infield that the Lady Eagles couldn't corral in time, allowing Reding to cross the plate with the winning run.

Nordyke, OC's third pitcher of the game, struck out four batters in 4 2/3 innings of work. She picked up the pitching wins in the Lady Eagles' two Heartland tournament victories, over Lubbock Christian (Texas) and St. Mary's.

Four Lady Eagles made the all-tournament team – pitchers Nordyke and Upton, senior outfielder Jessica Killer and junior designated player/outfielder Kayla Eichler. Eichler led the Heartland with 20 doubles this season – including three in the tournament – while Killer hit .286 and scored four runs during the tournament.

"I couldn't be any more proud of our team, even if we'd have won," OC coach Tom Heath said. "This team fought very, very hard … they battled and battled. This game today is just another example of the competitiveness of them. I'm very, very proud of them."

Postgame press conference with Tom Heath, Madison Nordyke and Sheridan Fuller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5jTGOdHpU&feature=youtu.be