OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 12, 2019) – Oklahoma Christian's pitchers combined on two shutouts and its hitters had seven extra-base hits –including four triples – as the Lady Eagles swept Southwest Baptist (Mo.) 8-0 and 5-0 in a softball doubleheader on Tuesday at Tom Heath Field.
It was a good day to bounce back for OC (8-1), which suffered the first loss of the season a day earlier. OC coach
Shanon Hays said days like Tuesday are good for building confidence.
"We did some good things today," OC coach
Shanon Hays said. "We wanted to put together some more hits and kind of keep some innings going and get some more runs, but for the most part, it was good for us today to get back on track."
In the opener against Southwest Baptist (0-7), OC senior left-hander
Madison Hagood (3-1) pitched a complete-game two-hitter, striking out six and walking one.
Her teammates provided her with plenty of run support, scoring four runs in the first inning off Southwest Baptist starter Maddie Massanelli (0-2), with
Bridget White and
Bailey Strecker hitting run-scoring singles before freshman
Sierra Schultz smacked an RBI triple to right-center field, one of four triples on the day for OC.
Kayla Eichler tripled to right-center and scored in the fourth inning to make it 6-0 and
Lindsey Stoeckel hit a triple to left-center to start a two-run fifth inning.
Brie Dunckel's single up the middle scored
Payton Sabolski with two outs to give OC an 8-0 lead and end the game due to the run rule.
Stoeckel (2-0) and
Kaylie Upton combined on a shutout in the second game, wriggling out of trouble time and again to do so. Stoeckel gave up five hits in four innings but didn't allow a Southwest Baptist runner past second base. Upton picked up the save with three shutout innings, striking out Allison Petry with the bases loaded in the sixth and retiring Kaitlyn Bagby on a fly ball with two runners on base in the seventh to end the game.
"It was good for us to get our arms out there and get some innings, especially for (Upton) and Lindsey, because they haven't thrown a lot," Hays said. "It will help them get ready for conference, because we're going into a very important stretch.
Madison Hagood threw great today. She had her good stuff. It was really good to see Lindsey get four good innings. I thought she was dominant today."
OC broke through against Southwest Baptist starter Kaylee Schmidli (0-2) in the third inning, with Upton's triple the key blow in a two-run outburst. Singles by Eichler and
Sierra Schultz and two wild pitches by Schmidli led to two more OC runs in the fifth and another single by Eichler drove in Dunckel in the sixth, making it 5-0.
"We do have big power alleys," Hays said. "A lot of those balls – a couple that Stoeckel hit would be home runs in most ballparks. It was good to see her get going. She swung the bat very well today.
Sierra Schultz has been swinging the bat great. She's been a great little infusion of power and offense to our lineup."
OC is scheduled to host the Raising Cain's Edmond Regional Festival II on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but it's likely that the schedule for that event will chance due to the weather forecast.
Shanon Hays discusses the game:
https://youtu.be/HB9UF0qHz-U
Game highlights:
https://youtu.be/iOBCpfq-9Qs
