BETHANY -- Southern Nazarene rallied late to defeat Oklahoma Baptist, 7–6, in a walk-off win Tuesday in Bethany.
Despite owning a 13-6 advantage in hits, the Bison stranded 11 runners and committed a few timely errors which allowed the hosts to prevail. For OBU, who is already locked into the No. 2 see in next week's Great American Conference Tournament, its record fell to 32-16 overall and 23-7 in the league.
SNU jumped out to a 4–1 advantage in the first, highlighted by a three-run homer from Maddie Southerland. Oklahoma Baptist chipped away and surged ahead in the fifth, scoring four runs.
Sammie Greene's RBI single and
Greenlee Wells' two-run homer helped the Bison take a 5–4 lead.
Wells later drove in another run in the sixth, extending the lead to 6–4.
SNU tied it in the bottom of the sixth behind Southerland's hit-by-pitch and a double by Kelsi Hilton that plated a run. An error by OBU allowed another unearned run to score, knotting the game at 6–6.
In the seventh, Hilton again came through. With two outs and runners on second and third, she reached on an error that allowed Kristen Mullendore to score the game-winning run.
Southerland (4–2) picked up the win in relief, throwing 2.2 innings and allowing one run on four hits. She also went 1-for-2 at the plate with three RBI and scored twice. Hilton finished 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Kaylee Davis and Greene each led the green and gold with three hits while Wells added two more. Her fifth-inning homer was her 15th this season, third-most in OBU single-season history. Starter
Jaycee Shaffer allowed four runs over five innings but got a no-decision while
Morgan Max (5–8) took the loss in relief.
Next on the schedule for OBU is a three-game conference series against No. 9 Southern Arkansas. The opening game comes April 25 in Shawnee at 6 p.m.
