OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 28, 2020) – In a matchup between the best-hitting and best-pitching softball teams in the Lone Star Conference so far this season, it was Oklahoma Christian's offense that proved to be the emphatic winner on Friday at Tom Heath Field.
OC rolled up 20 hits and 18 runs in 11 innings as the Eagles twice run-ruled No. 8-ranked Angelo State (Texas), winning 10-2 and 8-0 in the opening doubleheader of the LSC season for both teams. The Eagles had entered the game with a team batting average of .387, while Angelo State had a sub-2.00 team earned run average.
As a bonus, OC (17-3, 2-0 LSC) picked up a pair of complete-game pitching gems, with
Kali Crandall striking out eight batters while allowing only two hits in the first game and
Lindsey Stoeckel twirling a one-hit shutout in the second game.
The Eagles haven't yet cracked the National Fastpitch Coaches Federation's NCAA Division II poll – they were in the "others receiving votes" category this week – but they've now won three straight games against teams currently ranked in that poll's top 15.
"If you want to be ranked and you want to get respect, go win games like we did today and beat good teams," OC coach
Shanon Hays said. "Angelo State is a well-coached ball club. We just had a good day."
OC hit three home runs in the doubleheader, two by
Kaitlyn Dennis, and had 10 extra-base hits, routinely frustrating the Belles' defensive shifts, which included bringing in an outfielder to play in the infield to try and slow down the Eagles' speedsters.
"We've got the kind of team that we usually hit velocity pretty well," Hays said. "We were ready to go today. Two-thirds of the year we've played really well. We've mixed in some stinkers … when we think we should beat teams and we try to do more than we should. But we performed well (today) against a good team."
OC hit Angelo State (13-5, 0-2) with a six-run roundhouse in the first inning of the opener, taking advantage of three errors by the Belles. Dennis hit a two-run homer and
Brianna Robinson added a triple to center field in the outburst against Angelo State starter Genesis Armendariz (6-2).
The Belles' only hits off Crandall (8-0) were a pair of solo home runs, by Hatty Shope in the fourth inning and Avery Zeigler in the sixth. Courtney Barnhill, who's ranked No. 2 on Division II's home run list among active players, went 0 for 3 and struck out twice.
Jaiden Johnson hit a solo home run for OC in the fourth and
Katelyn Dunckel tripled and scored in the fifth. OC finished off the game by scoring two runs on an error by Angelo State right fielder Maleya Burns in the sixth inning, with Dunckel – the batter – coming all the way around to score.
It was more of the same in the second game. Angelo State starter Meagan Hill (4-2) entered the game having given up only two earned runs and 10 hits in 28 innings this season, but the Eagles scored six runs (all earned) on six hits in just 1 1/3 innings against her.
Robinson's run-scoring double to left-center highlighted a three-run first inning. In the second, leadoff batter
Brie Dunckel – a primary focus of Angelo State's defensive shifts – took advantage of the Belles pulling in their right fielder and leaving that part of the field unguarded, sending a bouncer through the right side of the infielder that resulted in a RBI triple.
"Brie has been so good this year that a lot of people play her scared," Hays said of his senior, who's hitting .509 with a .618 on-base percentage. "She has put pressure on good pitchers and she did that today."
Kelsey Gammage and
Katelyn Dunckel followed
Brie Dunckel's triple with run-scoring doubles that made it 6-0. Dennis hit a solo home run in the fifth and
Hannah Pate followed with a double down the left-field line. Pate eventually scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
Angelo State's only hit against Stoeckel (6-1) was a sharp single to left field in the first inning by Shope. The Belles didn't advance a runner past second base.
OC will host another top-25 LSC foe, No. 22 Lubbock Christian (Texas), on Sunday. Lubbock Christian's coach, Daren Hays, is the brother of OC's coach.
