COMMERCE, Texas (May 20, 2021) – After graduating in 2020 from Texas Woman's, Bailey Turner had planned to be a graduate assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian this season, but the softball bug kept biting and she soon decided to take advantage of her remaining season of eligibility by playing for OC.

The Eagles sure are glad she did. With ace pitcher Kali Crandall having an off day, Turner stepped in and stepped up for No. 4 OC on a wet Thursday at No. 10 Texas A&M-Commerce. The senior right-hander held the potent Lions to two hits and one unearned run in 4 1/3 innings in the circle as the Eagles won 4-3 in their opening game in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional at John Cain Family Softball Field.

OC (38-7), the tournament's top seed, advanced to play at 12 p.m. Friday in the winners' bracket final against second-seeded, No. 12 West Texas A&M, which beat sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville 9-1. The regional champion will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships next week in Denver.

Texas A&M-Commerce (29-17) was scheduled to play TAMUK (26-13) in an elimination game Thursday night.

"Commerce is a great-pitching team," OC coach Shanon Hays said. "They have two girls who really complement each other. You've got to find some ways to create offense and you've got to pitch it back at them. Kali started off a little shaky, especially with the rain. … Kali just had a bad day and Bailey came in and steadied the ship and saved our bacon and made plays when we needed them."

OC had only three hits, only one of them coming in an inning in which the Eagles scored.

"It's very nerve-wracking," Hays said. "They don't give in. They know our hitters very well. They did a better job than we did early and then we took advantage of a couple of walks and a couple of situations. We only had three hits but we hit some balls hard in some key situations. Their right fielder (Ta'Lyn Moody) made some really good plays against us."

The Eagles had the misfortune of being a No. 1 seed in a year in which the NCAA predetermined the regional site, so instead of hosting, they found themselves having to play their regional opener against the home team, fifth-seeded TAMUC. The only advantage OC had was that it was the home team on the scoreboard.

The game started in the rain and both starting pitchers – Crandall, the nation's leader in wins, and TAMUC's Alyssa LeBlanc – had trouble gripping the ball, resulting in an inordinate amount of walks. TAMUC scored in the top of the first inning as a result. The game stopped for nine minutes due to the rain, then resumed for two minutes before umpires called for another delay.

It didn't resume for almost three hours, and once it did, OC quickly tied the game in the bottom of the first, as Katelyn Dunckel – who was on second base when the game was stopped – scored when Whitney Walde reached on an infield single and LeBlanc misplayed the ball.

Both teams also scored once in the second inning. The Lions picked up a solo home run by Uxua Modrego off the left-center field scoreboard, while OC's Kylie Janzen drew a walk, stole second base, then advanced to third and scored on wild pitches by LeBlanc (16-11).

OC took its first lead in the fourth inning, scoring twice with two outs without the aid of a hit. LeBlanc hit Daelyn Denny with a pitch, then walked Lindsey Stoeckel and pinch-hitter Aaliyah Brown before hitting Brooklin Bain with another pitch to force in a run. Brie Dunckel drew a walk, forcing in another run to make it 4-2.

"I think that half my job is just to get a walk and just get on base," Brie Dunckel said. "I just do my best to be walked and do the little things to get on base and create chaos."

TAMUC reliever Emily Otto shut down the Eagles the rest of the way, allowing only one hit in 2 1/3 innings, but Turner (9-3) made the lead stand up for OC. The Lions did score once in the fifth inning, on a RBI single by Chealsea Slider, but stranded a runner at third base.

Moody led off with a double for the Lions in the sixth, but was also stranded at third as Turner retired the next three batters. Bain, playing third base, had a key defensive play, spearing a line drive by Samantha Dutton for the second out. Turner retired the Lions in order in the top of the seventh to close out the game.

Turner said her mindset was "just to have fun. Coach Hays has told me from the beginning to have fun with everything. I just go out there and have fun and trust my pitches and know my defense has my back.

"I haven't been in postseason since my freshman year of college … It's been fun."

Even though Crandall only recorded seven outs, five of them were strikeouts, allowing her to increase her career total to 441, passing former teammate Madison Hagood (438 from 2016-19) for second place on OC's all-time list. Crandall trails only OC Athletic Hall of Famer Leah Carrell (698 from 1998-2001).

"She's been a rock for us," Hays said of Crandall. "Her mechanics were bad today. … It got in her head a little bit. But she's human, too. Usually she's solid as a rock. That's why you have a pitching staff. Kali has been awesome for us. She's been our lead dog and she's thrown a ton of innings. It's nice to have someone like Bailey who can come in and help. … Kali will be back tomorrow, ready to go."

OC postgame press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUVUxPECz4A