TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Oklahoma Baptist saw its unbeaten start come to an end Thursday afternoon, falling 4–2 to Rogers State at the Cherokee Nation Festival despite a late offensive push. The Bison drop to 10–1 on the year after being held to three hits in the contest.
Rogers State struck first in the opening frame, using a walk and an RBI double to take a quick 1–0 lead. The Bison threatened early with a ground-rule double from
Nichelle Marshall in the second, but RSU's starter Hannah Culie worked out of trouble with a pair of strikeouts.
The Hillcats extended their advantage in the third with a three-run inning. A leadoff triple set the table, followed by a two-run homer to center that pushed the margin to 3–0. A throwing error allowed another run to score, making it 4–0.
Oklahoma Baptist found life in the fourth. After
Alexah Reyes was hit by a pitch and stole second,
Greenlee Wells delivered the Bison's biggest swing of the day—launching a two-run homer to right field that cut the deficit in half at 4–2. Wells lead the team in homeruns with five.
From there, pitching took over. Freshman
Jaycee Kelln settled in and tossed three scoreless innings to keep the Bison within striking distance, allowing six hits and three earned runs while striking out five in a complete-game effort.
Offensively, however, OBU couldn't break through against the RSU bullpen. The Bison put runners on in the sixth but were turned away by a pair of fielder's choices. Culie earned the win with eight strikeouts across five innings, while Emily Ross notched a two-inning save without allowing a hit.
Marshall, Wells, and
Payton Bragg tallied the three hits for Oklahoma Baptist. Reyes added a stolen base, and the Bison played clean defense outside of one error.
Oklahoma Baptist is back at it at 2:30 pm vs. #7 University of Central Oklahoma. The game vs. UCO will not have live stats or video. We will post an update of final score at the conclusion of the game.
