SAN ANTONIO (May 4, 2019) – All those 6 a.m. workouts, all the Monday night hitting sessions in less-than-ideal weather, all of the long bus and van trips, all those team meetings, all the tough losses and all those years spent honing their softball skills – all were worth it for the Oklahoma Christian Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

They didn't lead until the final pitch – which might have made it even sweeter – but the Eagles took their first Heartland Conference Championship tournament title with a 4-3 win over Lubbock Christian (Texas) at the St. Mary's Softball Stadium. OC loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh before Bridget White scampered home on a wild pitch with the decisive run.

OC (38-14) added the conference tournament title to the share of the regular-season title it had already earned and secured the Heartland's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II tournament. OC will learn its opponent and specific destination when the bracket is released on Monday morning and the Eagles will begin play in their first South Central Regional on Thursday, somewhere in Texas.

It will be the fifth national-tournament appearance in the program's 25-year history, as OC qualified for the NAIA tournament in 2001 and 2002 and was the National Christian College Athletic Association runner-up in both 2014 and 2015. The Eagles came oh-so-close to breaking through in Division II last year, falling to Rogers State in the Heartland tournament's championship round.

This time, it was the Eagles celebrating, dousing coach Shanon Hays with the contents of an ice-water bucket and landing four players – Brie Dunckel, Lindsey Stoeckel, Kayla Eichler and Kali Crandall – on the all-tournament team, with Dunckel named as the most valuable player.

White, one of six seniors on the OC squad, summarized it well: "This moment is like, 'It finally paid off.' We finally executed at the right time."

The program's second conference tournament title (along with a Sooner Athletic Conference crown in 2005) didn't come easy for OC. OC's pitchers, Crandall and Madison Hagood, constantly had to battle with runners on base, although they often came out ahead, as Lubbock Christian (32-19) stranded 10. The Eagles also left at least one runner on base in every inning, never scoring more than one run in any inning.

The Chaparrals loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning on a bloop single by Alivia Villarreal and when Crandall hit two consecutive batters. Morgan Dufour followed with a two-run single up the middle, but Crandall rebounded to strike out Logan Grado and Annika Schwartzenberg and retire Savannah Wysocki on a fly ball.

Dunckel, who went 3 for 4, had OC's first hit, a sharp single to right field to start the third inning, and she scored on a bloop double by White, who also went 3 for 4 and drove in two runs. The Eagles tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth when Stoeckel singled to left field to lead off and scored on a double down the left-field line by freshman Sierra Schultz, from nearby Schertz, Texas.

Lubbock Christian edged back ahead in the fifth. Megan Darling reached on an infield single with one out and scored on a single to right field by Villarreal. The Chaparrals again loaded the bases but Hagood – who entered the game to start the inning – escaped thanks to a fielder's-choice grounder by K'leigh Arredondo and a fly ball by Dufour.

OC answered in the bottom of the inning. Dunckel singled to center field, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Hunter Strickland and scored on a single to right field by White.

The Chaparrals threatened with two singles in the top of the seventh and nearly had a third as Stoeckel, in left field, had to make a running catch of a sinking blooper by K.K. Lopez-Liu. But Crandall – who re-entered the game to start the inning – fanned Dufour, one of the Heartland's most feared sluggers, to end the threat.

Dunckel singled off Lubbock Christian reliever Jordan Wehr (13-6) to start the bottom of the seventh. It was not an easy at-bat.

"I just tried to face the at-bat like it was any other at-bat and stay focused and calm and react to pitches as quickly as I can and just keep my head in the game without overthinking everything," Dunckel said. "That's hard, but it's part of the game and what we've been working our whole lives for, so it comes naturally at this point."

Strickland was called out for running into her batted ball on a sacrifice bunt attempt, but White followed with an infield single to move Dunckel to second base and Kaylie Upton walked to load the bases.

Stoeckel then grounded the ball to Villarreal, Lubbock Christian's first baseman, who fired home to retire Dunckel and just beat a throw back to first base to keep the bases loaded. Eichler came to the plate and on a 2-1 pitch, Wehr uncorked a wild pitch, allowing White to score the winning run.

"I'm thrilled for these girls and where they've come from," Hays said. "Starting at the end of August, our goal was to make the (Division II) postseason for the first time in our program's history. Like any year, we've had some ups and downs. … But they just hung in there. It's just fun to see them take this program another step."

Crandall (16-5) picked up her third win of the tournament in as many games, allowing six hits and striking out five Chaparrals in five innings.

Lubbock Christian coach Daren Hays, the brother of the OC coach, was gracious in defeat.

"We've played everybody in the league so much, you get to be friends with a lot of these players and all the coaches and everything," Daren Hays said. "If it wasn't us (advancing), I'd definitely rather it be them. I wish it was us, but we wish them all the best."

Postgame press conference: https://youtu.be/Gs6uuv1AocQ 

Game highlights: https://youtu.be/0jdO85kodH0