No. 9 Softball Splits with No. 3 USAO

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma – The No. 9 ranked Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) softball team took on a tough No. 3 ranked team in University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) on Tuesday afternoon and the doubleheader proved to be a heavyweight fight. The Saints won the opener, 3-2 before falling to the Drovers in the nightcap by a score of 6-5.

The Drovers struck first in the opener after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first came across to score on an RBI single to give USAO a 1-0 advantage. OLLU starting pitcher Ava Hernandez settled in after that, inducing a double play and a pop out to get out of the inning.

Both teams were able to get a runner on base in the second frame, but neither could manufacture a run.

USAO started the fourth inning with back-to-back singles and the runners would move up 60 feet after a sacrifice bunt. With one out and two on, Hernandez once again escaped a jam with an inning-ending double play.

An OLLU error in the fifth allowed the Drovers to plate another run making it 2-0 heading to the sixth. Yezenia Perez cut the USAO lead in half in the sixth inning with her second homerun of the year.

Trailing 2-1 with just three outs left to work with, the Saints needed a rally. Kristee Salas started things by drawing a leadoff walk, putting the tying run on base. After a fielder's choice by Kayla Rogers, Lilly Rocha came to the plate as the go-ahead run. With a 1-0 count, Rocha launched a ball over the centerfield wall to put the Saints in front. The homerun was Rocha's sixth of the season.

Hernandez retired the Drovers in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the Saints' 26th win of the season. Hernandez struck out five in her complete game performance.

Perez, Rogers, and Alyssa Flores each finished with two hits in the win.

In the nightcap, the Saints were the first to put a run on the board this time as Hernandez led off the inning with a single and eventually was driven in by a Rogers single.

The Drovers offense threw up four runs in the fourth to take the lead.

Rocha pulled the Saints within a run in the fourth as she picked up two more RBI on the day, scoring Alyssa Garcia and Emilia Salinas.

In the back-and-forth contest, Salas evened things at four in the fifth with a sacrifice fly that scored Ayanna Trejo who came on to pinch run for Caitlin Terrazas, who reached on a leadoff single.

A two-run blast by USAO in the bottom of the fifth put the Drovers in the driver's seat. The Saints weren't going away quietly as Flores drove in Grace Ross in the sixth inning to make it a 6-5 game.

In their final at-bat, the Saints loaded the bases with one out but two straight ground balls on the infield ended the threat and the game, resulting in a split between to top-10 teams in the country.

Four Saints finished with two hits in the loss.

The Saints will return to action as they take on Mid-America Christian University tomorrow in Oklahoma City. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.