Rangers Split
5
Winner Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 1-0
3
Midwestern State MSU 0-9
Winner
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU
1-0
5
Final
3
Midwestern State MSU
0-9
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 0
Midwestern State MSU 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 7 2

W: Howell, Hannah (1-0) L: Mattye Tyler (0-4)

1
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 1-1
9
Winner Cameron CU 7-5
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU
1-1
1
Final
9
Cameron CU
7-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 3
Cameron CU 2 4 0 2 0 1 9 6 0

W: Turner Whorton (2-1) L: Zanca, Taylor (0-1)

Game Recap: Softball | | Madison Parrott, Athletic Communications

Northwestern Splits 2020 Season on Opening Day

WICHITA FALLS, Texas– Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers began their season Friday as they traveled to Wichita Falls, Texas for the MSU Texas Invitational. The Rangers played against host team Midwestern State University for their first game of the season and then finished off the day with a match-up against Cameron University. Hannah Howell was the starting pitcher for their first game against the Mustangs. Taylor Zanca was the starter against the Aggies.
 
The Rangers tallied nine hits through both games that were played. Eight came from the first game against Midwestern State and one from the game against Cameron. Senior Zanca showed her leadership in more ways than one as she led the team with three hits out of six attempts on the day. Alexus Bailey and Lauran Adcock had a homerun each with Bailey's two-run bomb in the first game and Adcock's solo homer in the second to prevent a no-hitter from being thrown.
 
The other hits came from Emily Poindexter (2), Kalie Johnson (1), and Morgan La Neve (1).
 
Game 1
 
The Rangers started off their season with a bang against Midwestern State as Johnson sent her first hit of the 2020 season through the left side of the infield. This started a rally for the Rangers as they were able to load the bases with some miscues from the Mustang defense and La Neve stepped up with hard-hit single to third base that scored Johnson and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
 
Poindexter earned her first RBI as she got hit by a pitch and freshman Hannah Howell had a ground-out RBI to the pitcher for a 3-0 lead. Midwestern State earned a run of their own in their half of the inning with a walk followed by a deep double and a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1.
 
Senior Bailey earned those runs right back with a deep two-run homerun over left field and scored Brianna Wisby (walked) to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead. Despite a lead-off single from the Mustangs they were not able to get their runner past first base and kept the score the same through two complete innings.
 
A pitching change for Midwestern State in the third really slowed the roll for the Rangers who were unable to score despite back-to-back hits from Zanca and Poindexter in the top of the fourth. In the Mustangs' half of the fourth, a lead-off single and wild-pitch put a runner on threatening on third, but a flyout ended the inning to prevent MSU from scoring.
 
A one-two-three fifth inning for both teams kept the score 5-1 as the Rangers continued to hold a four-run lead as they headed into the top of the sixth.
 
The Red-and-Black were unable to score any runs in the sixth to extend their lead but stellar pitching for the Rangers in freshman Howell, rallied Northwestern defense and they were able to make quick work of the Mustangs in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Zanca earned her second hit of the day in the seventh with a single to right field but was unable to score. The Mustangs had only one inning left to make something happen and took advantage of two singles and a two-run scoring double to center field. Howell came through despite runners on second and third to get the last batter to fly out to Bailey in left and secured the game with a score of 5-3.
 
Game 2
 
The Rangers faced a good team in their second match-up against Cameron University and struggled to find their offense through most of the game. A quick first inning gave the momentum to the Aggies, who earned two runs on a sacrifice fly and a single to the shortstop to take a 2-0 lead.
 
A one-two-three inning in the top of the second allowed Cameron to continue rolling with two hits that lead to four more runs that extended the Aggie lead 6-0.
 
Defenses stepped up on both halves of the third inning with quick work from both pitchers to keep the score sitting at 6-0 headed into the top of the fourth. 
 
After subbing into the game in the inning before, Adcock led off the top half of the inning with a deep ball over the left-field fence for her first at-bat of the season, as well as her collegiate career to cut into the lead and make it 6-1. Unfortunately, after a few miscues from the Red-and-Black and two hits from the Cameron offense, they were able to jump to an 8-1 lead through the bottom of the fourth.
 
A scoreless fifth inning and quick work from both pitchers kept the score the same through five.
 
Despite earning a baserunner in the top of the sixth, as Johnson got hit by a pitch, the Red-and-Black were unable to tack on another run. After walking, and stealing second, the Cameron offense hit their ninth hit of the game to score the final run which finished the game with a score of 9-1, as the game went only six innings due to mercy rules.

The Rangers continue with the MSU Texas Invitational tomorrow morning with a game scheduled for 11:00 a.m. against the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Their final game of the weekend will be played tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. against Regis University.
 
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU Softball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com.
 
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