SHAWNEE, Okla. – Looking to extend their streak of excellent play in the Great American Conference, Ranger Softball broke out for a 9-5 win in the first game of Friday's doubleheader at Oklahoma Baptist University, but ended up falling 8-1 in game two.
Game 1
Coming off a statement series split against #3 Southern Arkansas just a week ago, the Rangers rolled into Shawnee with their sights set on making the Great American Conference tournament. Holding their fate in their own hands with just under half of their games remaining in the regular season, Northwestern looked to their hot bats to ride the momentum.
Northwestern capitalized on an OBU error in the 1
st for the game's first run, before
Megan Sanders put a dent into a ball for her third home run of the year in the top of the 2
nd, scoring
Macy Madewell.
With
Madison Garza in the circle looking for her fourth win in her last six starts, Oklahoma Baptist was looking at a tall task in solving the junior right hander. The 5'4" Texas product continued her recent success by holding the Bison to just two earned runs on 10 hits while recording eight punchouts.
Madison McGraw had herself a fantastic game one, going 3-for-4 with an RBI to raise her average to .233 this season. But she wasn't the only Ranger bat to break out in this one, as
Brittany Corrales and Madewell also had a multi-hit game. Madewell was able to pad the Northwestern lead in the top of the 7
th, sending a Bailee Saye offering deep over the left field fence to make it 9-2 in favor of the black-and-red.
Despite surrendering three unearned in the bottom half of the 7
th, Garza managed to hang on to the 9-5 victory for her fifth win of the year. Garza allowed just one free pass in her seven innings of work.
Game 2
The Rangers found themselves in another close game in the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader, right up until the 6
th when Oklahoma Baptist ran into a big inning. Both
Karly Murray and OBU starter McKenzie Jones had success in the early innings, keeping it a scoreless contest until the Rangers broke the tie in the 4
th. After McGraw reached on an error by Rachel Birchfield at third, Madewell made the Bison pay by driving in her third RBI of the day to put the Rangers up 1-0.
But OBU answered back in the bottom of the 4
th thanks to three straight singles and an error by Corrales, allowing the home team to take a 2-1 lead that they would never surrender. Murray would get some help from her defense in stranding a runner in the 5
th after a foul out and Ranger catcher
Audrey Estes gunning down Lacy Hillis trying to steal third to keep it a one run game.
Northwestern had a chance in the 6
th to erase the deficit when they had runners on second and third, but
Jordan Sutton went down swinging to end the threat. However, as has been the case on a few occasions this year, the Rangers were unable to avoid a crushing sixth inning.
Following two consecutive walks to start the inning,
Jill Webb went to
Kendall Jones in an effort to keep the game close. Instead, the wheels came off. A home run, a couple of singles, an error and a wild pitch led to six runs for the Bison, effectively killing any Northwestern momentum.
Oklahoma Baptist would go on to win 8-1 in the second game, setting up a very important doubleheader on Saturday.
Up Next
Northwestern and Oklahoma Baptist will wrap up the series tomorrow (Saturday, April 1) in Shawnee, as the two teams square off for a noon doubleheader.
For the latest news and updates on Ranger Softball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on Twitter or visit www.riderangersride.com
