SHAWNEE – It was a back-and-forth defensive battle for seven frames on Friday night before Harding scored five in the eighth to prevail over Oklahoma Baptist, 6-1.
Tomorrow, the two squads will meet up for a GAC doubleheader starting at noon at the Bison Softball Park.
Before the eighth, Harding and OBU notched just one run each with each teams' pitching and defense shining.
For the Lady Bisons, pitcher Maegan Pistokache retired the first 13 Bison batters she faced. Those outs included five strikeouts, four groundouts and a pair of flyouts.
In the other circle,
Kayleigh Jones registered nine strikeouts and a trio of groundouts in the first seven innings. She also got some help from her defense as a trio of foul-ball outs were secured.
First-inning action saw the visitors get a 1-0 lead. Three of the first four batters were walked before a 6-3 RBI groundout by Chelsea Blankenship broke the scoreless tie.
It wouldn't be until the fifth that the Bison found the tying run. A one-out two-bagger from
Samantha Campos brought
Mia Moddelmog to the plate. On an 0-2 pitch, Moddelmog grounded out to second, and on the ensuing throw to third, an errant throw from Harding's first baseman allowed pinch runner
Avery Baxter to score.
OBU later threatened in the seventh. With Campos back in the box, a liner to the left-center gap was hauled in Ashton Bryce. That kept danger away as OBU's
Emily Richardson had previously singled in the frame.
Then in the eighth, Harding broke through. After a one-out infield error by the Bison, Bryce socked a two-run double to left and moved the score to 3-1. A few batters later, Nicole Shano sealed the win with a single to right that plated two more.
