DENVER, Colo. - The No. 22 Oklahoma Christian softball program worked three-up, three-down at Assembly Athletic Complex, winning three straight games in three days to capture the program's second-ever NCAA Division II South Central Region-1 Championship.
The No. 4 seeded Eagles defeated top overall seed Colorado Christian for the second time in 24 hours, 7-2, to advance to the NCAA DII Super Regionals. Oklahoma Christian's opponent, and the host team, will be determined in the South Central Region-2 field as No. 2 seed West Texas A&M battles No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville for the crown.
The top seed of the remaining two teams will host Super Regionals May 21-22 with a date to Chatanooga, Tenn., and the Women's College World Series on the line.
Jill Dickson (17-9), less than 24 hours after claiming her third save of the season against the Cougars, got the complete-game victory in Saturday's championship duel over CCU. The Edmond, Okla., native threw five strikeouts to just three walks while allowing only two runs on six hits.
Maci George delivered one of her best games of the year Saturday afternoon, going a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish, including a triple, and scoring two runs.
Danae Lopez (1-for-2) recorded three of the Eagles' six RBI while reaching base twice with a hit and a walk.
In her three games of the championships, two of which came against her former team, Lopez hit .667 (6-for-9) with seven RBI and two runs scored. George led the Eagles at the plate over the last three days with a 7-for-11 (.636) 72 hours while
Kadence Brewster followed with a 5-for-10 (.500) weekend.
Championship Saturday started out with Oklahoma Christian seeing its first deficit of the weekend after Colorado Christian plated the game's first run on two hits in the first inning. Dickson regrouped, holding the Cougars without a hit over the next two frames.
The Eagles got their offense going in the bottom of the third with five runs on four hits, aided by three CCUÂ errors, to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Colorado Christian cut into the lead with one run in the fourth, only for the maroon-and-gray to record single runs in the each of the next two frames.
Now with a five-run lead to work with, the senior sensation in the circle allowed just two more hits the rest of the way. After seeing a pair of Cougars get on base in the top of the seventh, Dickson claimed her fifth strikeout of the game for the second-to-last out before seeing the championship-clinching out sail into right-field foul territory, where it was corralled by
Ally McDougal.
No. 22 Oklahoma Christian (42-14, 30-10 LSC) will either travel to Canyon, Texas, for Super Regionals or host, depending on the outcome between No. 2 seed West Texas A&M and No. 6 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas will have to beat the Lady Buffs twice in order to come to Tom Heath Field May 21-22.
