DENVER, Colo. - From the freshman phenom to the seasoned seniors, No. 22 Oklahoma Christian softball used all six of its runs to defeat top-seed Colorado Christian Friday afternoon, 6-5, and advance in the winner's bracket to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship Game.
Ella Resendiz, after throwing just 47 pitches in her complete-game effort Thursday, got the starting call yet again, going 5.1 innings before the newly-ordained NFCA First Team All-Region honoree
Jill Dickson shut the door with the final 1.2 innings. The duo combined for seven strikeouts to just three walks while allowing five runs on seven hits.
At the plate, fellow senior
Madi Drummond (2-for-3) was the hero with an RBI-double and a two-RBI triple, which proved to be the game-winning runs. Friday was Drummond's first multi-hit game since April 19.
Kallie Rupp (2-for-3),
Kadence Brewster (2-for-3),
Danae Lopez (2-for-3) and
Sydnee Seat (2-for-3) each also recorded a pair of base knocks as part of OC's 11 game-total hits. Oklahoma Christian has now put together 28 hits over the last 48 hours, marking its most hits in a two-game stretch in over two months.
Resendiz quickly picked up where she left off from her historic performance in Thursday's opening round, sitting down the first three Cougars in order, including two by punch-out. Seat and Lopez responded with back-to-back one-out hits in the bottom of the first to take the early 1-0 lead.
Two more runs came across the plate for the Eagles in the bottom of the second, with Drummond's first RBI of the contest coming on just her second triple of the season, for the 3-0 advantage. Colorado Christian was able to respond with a run in the third following a triple of its own, cutting the lead to 3-1.
Marti Yaerger used a two-out RBI-single in the bottom of the third to extend the maroon-and-gray's lead once more, 4-1, before both teams saw just one base runner over the next two frames. In the top of the sixth, Resendiz, for the first time all weekend, got into some trouble as one Cougar scored before another reached safely as Dickson got the call to enter the circle.
Holding a two-run lead with the game-tying run at the plate and one out, the first batter the Preseason LSC Pitcher of the Year faced got on with a walk before issuing a fielder's choice and an inning-ending strikeout to keep the two-run lead intact.
Singles from Brewster and Rupp in the bottom of the sixth gave way for Drummond's second hit of regionals in what was a double to left center to score what would later prove to be the vital two final runs for OC. The insurance runs left CCU with four runs needed to extend play to the bottom of the seventh.
After the first two batters were retired, the nation's No. 7 team strung together a single and a walk before the first home run of the game separated the two teams by just one run. Unphazed by the sudden shift in momentum, the Edmond, Okla., native threw just three pitches that all found the strike zone to shut down the comeback effort.
No. 22 Oklahoma Christian (41-14, 30-10 LSC) will now await one of three teams - Colorado Christian, UT Tyler and St. Mary's - to see who will come out of the losers bracket for the South Central Regional Championship Game Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. CT, where OC will just need one win to advance to the Super Regionals.
