SHAWNEE – Morgan Max,
Sammie Greene and
Maggie Place were key contributors for Oklahoma Baptist (14-6, 9-0 GAC) during a Sunday sweep of Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Bison won 9-3 in the first contest before rallying 3-2 in the second.
OBU improved to 14-6 overall and 9-0 in the Great American Conference with the results.
GAME ONE
Max was sensational in the batter's box in the early game at Bison Softball Park. She collected two homers, a double and drove in five runs.
One of those homers, a grand slam in the third, broke a 1-1 tie and pushed OBU in front for good. Later, with the Bison nursing a 5-3 lead in the sixth, Max hit another out-of-the-park shot and boosted the Bison's lead to 6-3.
Ayzia Shirey also highlighted a solid game offensively with a two-run single in the sixth. That hit scored
Hailey Stanford and
Shelby Warden and moved OBU's lead to 9-3.
In the circle, Place tossed 4.1 innings, gave up two runs and induced a combined nine ground ball and flyouts. Southeastern did notch two homers in the fifth, however, Place was more than solid. Southeastern had multiple chances to finish with more than three runs, but Place got a double-play ball in the third as well as two outs in the fourth when SE has two runners on base.
Max then closed the game for OBU. She came in during the fifth, when the score was 5-3, and kept Southeastern off the board. In fact, the Savage Storm put just one runner in scoring position after Max entered. She ended up earning the save, her first.
GAME TWO
Southeastern committed a crucial, two-out throwing error in the seventh before Greene walked it off with a single in the eighth.
Before that, Savage Storm pitcher Reese Taylor was outstanding in the circle. Through five frames, the Bison had just three hits. Offensively, Taylor socked a homer to center in the second before SE added its second run in the fourth. That connection was off the bat of Sabetha Sands who drove in Kady Fryrear.
Heading to the sixth, Place re-entered to pitch for starter
Kayleigh Jones. Over the next three frames, Place allowed just a single hit and watched as Southeastern grounded out five times.
On the offensive end, the green and gold started their comeback with a solo bomb from
Ally Ryan in the sixth. Then in the seventh, Shirey and
Emily Adler earned singles within the first three at-bats. Greene added a sacrifice bunt in between those knocks and that's when some luck crept in.
Adler took off to second, earned the steal, and then SE's catcher tried to throw Shirey out at third. That failed, the ball trickled into the outfield and Shirey scored to tie the game at 2-2.
After SE failed to produce anything in the top-half of the eighth,
Cassidy Morrow started OBU's inning of work with a double to right center. Three batters later, Greene singled up the middle and pushed Morrow across for the game-winning run.
