SHAWNEE – An 8-4 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State in game one of Saturday's doubleheader allowed Oklahoma Baptist to win the Great American Conference series on a 65-degree day at Bison Softball Park.
After the 8-4 triumph in the opener, OBU fell 2-1 in the series finale. For the green and gold, their record moved to 10-8 and 5-1 in the conference.
GAME ONE
The Bison jumped ahead early, scoring twice in the first after a two-out, two-run bomb by
Morgan Max. That was preceded by a clutch, two-out hit by
Sammie Greene.
OBU added four more in the second, highlighted by
Ally Ryan's two-run blast. That was the junior's first homer of the season.
Unlike the day before, the time Southwestern got runners on base, they capitalized. In the third frame, Kaylee Barkley cut the deficit to 6-3 with a three-run bomb.
Shallen Mershon later added a solo shot in the fourth, but the hosts answered with back-to-back homers from
Kaley Cook and Max. Those long shots came in bottom half of the fourth, and sealed the game in OBU's favor, 8-4.
Max not only shined at the plate with three hits and four RBI but also earned the win in relief, tossing 3.1 hitless innings. She retired all nine batters she faced.
GAME TWO
SWOSU's Alexis Taylor was sensational in the finale. She allowed just two hits through six innings and fanned a career-high 11 batters while issuing no walks.
As for the Bulldogs offense, they plated solo runs in the first and third frames. Katie Boline provided both RBI for SWOSU.
OBU's offense struggled on this day, attaining their second-lowest hit count of the season (3).
The last hit of the game for the Bison was delivered by Ryan. It was a lead-off shot to centerfield and brought the score to 2-1. However, with Jaycee McKee in the circle, she would earn her GAC-leading fourth save of the year after retiring the next three OBU batters.
Next on the schedule for OBU is a non-conference doubleheader at Cameron on March 4.
