OKLAHOMA CITY (May 4, 2021) – No. 6-ranked Oklahoma Christian had hoped its doubleheader against No. 3 Texas-Tyler on Tuesday would be a showdown for the Lone Star Conference regular-season softball title, but the Eagles' surprising loss to Cameron on Saturday derailed those plans.

Texas-Tyler already had clinched the crown by the time it arrived at Tom Heath Field, but the doubleheader still was a showdown of highly ranked teams that had potential postseason implications for OC. The Eagles took advantage of the opportunity against another strong foe, sweeping the Patriots 6-1 and 1-0 to complete the regular season and perhaps make a statement in the process.

Texas-Tyler (33-7, 27-3 LSC), which entered Tuesday on a 12-game winning streak, had exactly one loss against the rest of the league combined before falling twice to OC (36-6, 26-4). The losses ended the Patriots' season, as they are in the final year of transition into NCAA Division II and thus ineligible for the postseason.

OC will host the LSC tournament, a 10-team, single-elimination event which is scheduled for May 13-15. OC finished the regular season with an impressive 12-3 record against ranked opponents and a 21-2 record at home. The Eagles will await the result of a handful of remaining games in the LSC before learning what the bracket for the league tournament will look like.

In the opener, OC pitcher Kali Crandall (23-2), Division II's leader in pitching wins, wriggled out of jams in each of the first five innings. The Patriots stranded 12 baserunners during that stretch and scored only once, when Shelby Hughston drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk from Crandall, who issued an uncharacteristically high seven walks against six strikeouts.

That proved to be Texas-Tyler's lone run on the day and tied the game at 1-1, as OC had scored first in the fourth inning, when Brie Dunckel reached on a leadoff infield single and eventually came home on a single to right field by her younger sister, Katelyn Dunckel.

OC edged ahead again in the bottom of the fifth against Texas-Tyler starter Payton Foster (15-4). With one out, Lindsey Stoeckel reached on an error and Abi LaValley followed with a pinch-hit single. Brooklin Bain then tripled to right-center field, scoring pinch-runner Hampton Hays (running for Stoeckel), but LaValley was thrown out at the plate trying to also score.

The Eagles broke open the game in the sixth with four runs, sending 10 batters to the plate. Brianna Robinson, Daelyn Denny and Bain each contributed a run-scoring single and pinch-hitter Aaliyah Brown drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another run.

Senior Bailey Turner relieved Crandall in the sixth inning and earned her first save of the day and the season, pitching 1 2/3 innings of no-hit softball.

The second game turned into a pitchers' duel. Texas-Tyler starter Erin Hill (17-3) pitched a complete game and allowed only four hits. For OC, Stoeckel (4-0) started and threw four no-hit innings before giving way to Turner, who allowed only two hits over the final three innings to complete the shutout and earn another save.

OC scored the game's lone run in the second inning, as Denny tripled to right-center with one out and scored on a groundout by Bain. Texas-Tyler advanced only one baserunner as far as third base and didn't record a hit until a two-out double by Ashley Perez in the sixth inning.