CANYON, Texas (April 3, 2022) – The list of NCAA Division II softball teams hotter than No. 22 Oklahoma Christian is a short one. The Eagles demonstrated why that's the case on Sunday, with one of the most impressive doubleheader sweeps in their history.
OC used a four-run seventh-inning rally to take down the defending Division II champion, No. 20-ranked West Texas A&M, 8-5 in the opener at Schaeffer Park, then rode an eight-run second inning to a 12-2 romp in the second game against the team that ended the Eagles' season in 2021. OC now has won five of its last seven games against a program that owns two Division II titles.
The sweep moved OC (28-8, 16-4 Lone Star Conference) into a four-way tie atop the standings in Division II's toughest softball league with Texas-Tyler, Texas A&M-Commerce and Lubbock Christian (Texas). One game behind that group are Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Mary's (Texas), and another game behind that duo is Angelo State (Texas). All of those teams, plus West Texas A&M (21-12, 10-10), either were in the top 25 in the most recent Division II coaches' poll or among those receiving votes.
The carrot for winning the regular-season conference title is the opportunity to host the LSC postseason tournament.
The two wins Sunday extended OC's winning streak to 14 games, the second-longest in program history. Last year's Eagles won 16 straight games, a run this year's bunch could match on Friday, when they host Texas-Permian Basin (17-24, 4-16) in a LSC doubleheader.
A solo home run by
Brooklin Bain and a two-run single by
Abi LaValley put OC up 3-0 in the third inning of the first game against West Texas A&M, but the Buffaloes responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning, with Ruby Salzman hitting a two-run homer off OC starter
Kali Crandall and Julie Guzman following with a three-run shot.
OC reliever
Lindsey Stoeckel (6-0) entered and blanked West Texas A&M the rest of the way, buying time for her teammates to rally. In the sixth,
Kylie Janzen's two-out single to center scored
Whitney Walde, pulling the Eagles within 5-4.
West Texas A&M's shoddy defense hurt it greatly in the seventh, as the Buffaloes committed three of their eight errors during the game.
Hannah Pate led off with an infield single and came around to score on a single by
Chloe Woodward (who went 4 for 4) thanks to a throwing error on Salzman, the center fielder. A single by
Tristyn Hamilton and an intentional walk issued to Bain loaded the bases with no outs before West Texas A&M went back to starter Heidi Vortherms (9-5) in the pitching circle.
Grace Anderson's sacrifice fly scored Woodward and Hamilton and Bain later scored on the same play on two separate errors by catcher Braeland Booth.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and a runner on first base, Rufus lined out to OC first baseman
Kylie Janzen, who doubled off the runner, Nikki Warren, to end the game.
Anderson (10-2) went the distance in the circle for OC in the second game. Meanwhile, the Eagles jumped on West Texas A&M starter Emilee Wilson (6-3) and reliever Kyra Lair for eight runs on five hits (and two more WT errors) in the second inning.
Aaliyah Brown – who had four hits in the doubleheader – capped the inning with a three-run home run to right field.
The Buffaloes pulled within 8-2 by the end of the fifth inning to avoid the run rule being invoked, but the Eagles sealed the win with another four-run seventh. Woodward, who had six hits on the day, and Walde each contributed run-scoring hits during the inning.
GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE
