Chickasha, OK – SAGU Softball ended their Sooner Athletic Conference tournament run after splitting the second day 1-1. The Lady Lions took another extra-innings game over Southwestern Christian, but they would fall for the second time to the No. 2 seed Science and Arts. SAGU has an overall record of 29-24, and they now set their sights on the NCCAA National Tournament.
Game One
For the second time in the tourney, No. 6 seed SAGU grinded out an extra-innings victory, this time in walk-off fashion against seventh-seeded Southwestern Christian in a 5-4 affair at Bill Smith Ballpark.
The Lady Lions pushed across a pair of early runs in the bottom of the first on an
Ashlyn Teran RBI double and an
Illeana Salinas base-knock to make it a 2-0 score before the Eagles surged out in-front in the fifth on a bases clearing double by Holly Elam.
The SCU lead was short-lived as
Airiana Magdaleno smashed an RBI double to left-center in the bottom half of the fifth to bring it even at 3-3.
With the both teams deadlocked after seven, it was the Eagles that broke through first in the extra frame as a Maliyah Patton two-out RBI double gave SCU the 4-3 edge heading into the bottom half of the eighth.
However, Salinas once again came up big for SAGU by opening the inning with a double and then pinch-runner
Aracelie Mares came around to score on a throwing error by the SCU shortstop to draw it back even at 1-1.
After
Rosie Guadarrama was pushed down to third on a SAC bunt, she came around to score the walk-off run on
Maddie Watson's sacrifice fly to right to secure the 5-4 victory.
Makyla Kelly led the SAGU bats by swatting 3-for-4 from the plate while
Autumn Graham went the distance for her 19
th win, finishing with four earned runs on eight hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Game Two
No. 2 seed Science & Arts closed out a dominant run in its side of the bracket with its third straight eight-run rule victory as the Drovers secured its spot in the SAC championship with a 10-0 win over SAGU at Bill Smith Ballpark.
Jaclyn Gray and Amanda Moreno forces to be reckoned with at the plate as Gray finished 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a home run for three RBIs and a pair of runs while Moreno slashed 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, a pair of RBIs and reached home three times.
Moreno started the scoring barrage in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to center after Macenzie Ruth stole both second and third before Gray blasted a two-run jack over the left-center field wall to make it a 3-0 game.
Sophie Williams was responsible for producing the first two Drovers runs in the second after bashing an RBI single to center to start things off before coming around to score on a wild pitch later in the inning during Moreno's at-bat. Moments later, Moreno pushed across two more runs on an RBI triple to right-center and scored on the same play by taking advantage of a Lady Lions throwing error, setting the score to 7-0.
After being held scoreless in the third, USAO tallied three more in the fourth. Shyla Clouse stole a pair of bags, including taking home on a double steal to start the Drovers scoring before Gray's RBI double and Jaycee Kievit's RBI base-hit wrapped up the scoring at 10-0.
On the pitching side, senior hurler Emily Cerny recorded her third win of the tournament after allowing only one hit and didn't issue a single walk to go with nine strikeouts over four innings of work.
As a leading Christian university, SAGU educates and prepares individuals who want to serve Christ and others. SAGU helps students discover and develop their God-given callings in a Spirit-empowered, learning community. We believe in affordable tuition, made possible in part through the financial support of donors who embrace the mission of SAGU and the importance of affordable, accredited programs to train Christians for leadership in ministry, business, education, and service. Most majors are available in-person in Waxahachie, TX, and online through a wide range of associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
