BRANSON, Mo. – Oklahoma Baptist (2-4) rallied for a 4-3 win against Upper Iowa before falling 5-3 to Missouri Southern on Sunday during the Branson Lead-Off Classic.

GAME ONE
OBU put a 4-spot on the scoreboard in the fifth frame to erase a 3-0 Upper Iowa lead.

During that fifth inning, the green and gold's Kaley Cook got things going with an RBI single which pushed Kaylee Davis across home. Then in the next two at-bats, freshman Haley Hacker smacked a double to right center and allowed Payton Bragg and Cook to tie the game at 3-3.

Sammie Greene then got into the mix in the very next plate appearance. A single to right center moved Hacker across home plate and gave OBU a 4-3 lead.

That one-run advantage held over the final two frames. Courtesy of Morgan Max, the Bison didn't allow a hit to Upper Iowa. There were also four ground-ball outs. Also of note, Jaycee Shaffer did a fine job, striking out seven over 4.0 innings while allowing one earned run.

GAME TWO
Max provided an early, 1-0 Bison lead following a run-scoring single up the middle. However, the Lions would score the next four runs to bounce ahead of OBU.

After tying the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first, MSSU got a two-run double from Taylor Nuckolls in the second and bumped their advantage to 3-1.

Nuckolls was a part of Missouri Southern's next run in the fifth when her fielder's choice pushed teammate Ashlyn Hulet home. That brought the tally to 4-1.

The Bison nearly fought back in sixth when Max connected with an RBI two-bagger and Greenlee Wells doubled home Alli Bordwine. Unfortunately, the Bison weren't able to score after that and would fall 5-3.

Morgan led with two hits and two RBI while Wells added two hits of her own.

OBU will be back in action on Feb. 7 at Central Oklahoma at 12:45 p.m. Earlier this weekend, UCO (4-0) earned wins over top-six ranked teams Lenoir-Rhyne and Auburn-Montgomery.