ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers faced off against a solid Harding University (Ark.) in their second doubleheader of the series on Monday afternoon. The Bisons held the Rangers to only nine hits on the day.
Strangely enough the same names kept popping up when a hit was added to the Rangers stat sheet. Alexus Bailey played fantastic earning almost half of the nine going 4-for-5 on the day with a double and a walk. She went a perfect 3-for-3 in the second game, the first time she had done so in her career.
Another familiar name was Madison Friest who went 2-for-3 in the first game of the doubleheader. Kalie Johnson, Jayden Flowers, and Madeline McIntyre were the other three Rangers to earn a hit on the day with one each.
Game 1
The Rangers had a hard time stringing runs together as Harding's pitching staff held the Rangers to only four hits in the first game. However, Northwestern came to play as the two teams held each other scoreless through the first three innings.
Karly Murray pitched herself out of the bottom of the first inning with the help of her defense when the Bisons had runners in scoring position.
Madison Friest hit a lone single in the top of the second, which would become a pattern as all the Ranger hits in the six innings played were solos.
The Rangers threatened in the top of third inning, getting two runners on by way of an error and a walk but could not drive them in.
Harding scored their first run in the bottom of the third to answer the threat the Rangers had created in their half of the inning. A leadoff triple, of which they had three in the game, would allow the Bisons to score a run off only two hits giving them a 1-0 lead.
Friest sent her second single into left field to try and start the offense in the top of the fourth inning but would again be stranded on base.
Harding continued their scoring into the bottom of the fourth inning as they scratched two more runs on the board off three hits to make the score 3-0.
Another scoring opportunity arose for the Black-and-Red in the top of the fifth inning as Johnson was able to get on from an error by the third baseman. Bailey earned her first hit of the day with a single sent screaming into left field as she advanced Johnson to second, but both runners were stranded on the base path.
Harding would again answer the threat with runs of their own as they exploded offensively in the bottom of the fifth inning plating four runs off four hits to give them a 7-0 lead, only one run away from ending the game in five innings.
Pinch Hitter Madeline McIntyre got herself a single in the top of the sixth to keep the Rangers alive. Jayden Flowers then battled her way to first base after a twelve pitch at bat ending in a walk, but the Black-and-Red be left on the bases unable to score.
Harding pushed through and earn their final run in bottom of the sixth inning to end the game in run rule fashion with thirteen hits in the game. The Ranger's would take the lose to the Bisons with a final score of 8-0 in six innings.
Game 2
Game two was played in similar fashion as the Bisons held the Rangers to single digit hits with only five, Alexus Bailey earning three of them.
Scoring did not come as easy to the Bison as Allison Wells shut down the offense through the first three innings of play. She held Harding to only one hit through those innings giving her team something to rally around.
Bailey got herself into scoring position in the top of the first inning with a lead-off double as she gave the Rangers their second baserunner of the game. She was stranded on second base as Northwestern headed into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Harding decided they wanted more hits with back-to-back doubles from their offense. The Bisons scored two runs on three hits to give them their first lead of the game.
In similar fashion Harding continued their scoring through the fifth inning as they tacked on three more runs on four more hits as they extended their lead 5-0.
It would be up to the Rangers to battle back in the last two innings. Back-to-back singles from Johnson and Bailey gave the Black-and-Red hope, their first multi-hit inning of the day. Unfortunately, no runners were plated.
Northwestern held Harding to their five-run lead as they prevented the Bisons from adding any more runs to their lead. Flowers kept the hope alive with a one-out single to left field, but the Rangers would end the game hitting into a double. They took the second loss to the Bisons with a score of 5-0.
Northwestern will host another Great American Conference doubleheader on Friday against Arkansas Tech University. First pitch of the doubleheader will start at 2 p.m. on the Ranger Softball Field.
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Softball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.
