SHAWNEE – In two fairly intense games at Bison Softball Park, Oklahoma Baptist downed the visiting Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm by scores of 14-7 and 5-4 to improve to 14-11 overall and 9-2 in the Great American Conference.
GAME ONE
The game opened with a fireworks-filled first inning, as Southern Nazarene jumped out to a 6-0 lead, highlighted by a grand slam from Olivia Southerland. However, Oklahoma Baptist responded immediately, as
Morgan Max crushed a three-run homer to help the Bison cut the deficit to 6-4.
OBU took control in the second inning with another dominant offensive surge, plating six runs to take a 10-6 lead. Max struck again with her second home run of the game, a grand slam, bringing her RBI total to seven.
The Bison tacked on additional insurance runs in the later innings, including a solo shot from
Kaylee Davis in the fifth. Max (3-7) also dominated in relief, tossing 3.2 hit-less innings with three strikeouts to earn the win.
GAME TWO
The game began as a pitching duel, with Oklahoma Baptist's
Jaycee Shaffer and Southern Nazarene's Janie Worthington limiting early scoring opportunities. The Bison struck first in the opening frame with a solo home run by
Kaley Cook. SNU responded in the fourth, as Hanna Southerland's RBI single tied the game at 1-1.
The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth, when the Bison exploded for three runs.
Sammie Greene led off with a solo bomb, and
Abby Laskowski followed with a two-run blast, putting the Bison up 4-1. However, the Crimson Storm answered in the seventh, with Ashlyn Mullendore delivering a clutch, three-run double to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Greene stepped up once again, launching her second home run of the night to secure the walk-off win for Oklahoma Baptist. Shaffer (7-1) earned the victory, tossing all eight innings while allowing six hits and striking out two.
OBU will return to action this weekend at Henderson State. Game one of the three-game GAC series comes March 14 at 2 p.m.
