SPRINGS, COLORADO - Northwestern Oklahoma State Softball closed out their trip in Colorado with a split doubleheader following a 6-4 loss to Colorado Springs off a walk off grand slam. However the Rangers responded with a dominating 10-1 victory over Springs in five innings.
Northwestern closes out their opening season road trip of 10 straight on the road with a 6-4 record heading into the home opener.
GAME ONE:
Northwestern, looking to get on the board early, put two runners on base but were not able to score as Colorado Springs was able to escape the first and second jam with a strikeout.
Hannah Howell continued where she left off earlier in the week with a perfect first inning ending it with a strikeout looking.
The Mountain Lions had an opportunity in the second inning with two hits on back to back singles with two outs but Howell escaped with no damage done on a ground out.
Tatum Winters got things started for the Rangers with a lead-off walk. She was hit to third base on a single by Avery Clark leading to a Rachel Sherwood RBI sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead in the third inning.
The two teams continued to battle in a pitcher's duel saw a scoreless fourth inning after Howell worked around a two single keeping the Rangers in front 1-0.
Tatum Winters was able to extend the Ranger lead in the fifth with a solo blast to left field for a 2-0 lead over Colorado Springs. Northwestern had two more hits in the inning from Clark and Howell but were left on base.
The home team answered back in the sixth after five straight scoreless innings used a lead-off single to come around to score following a double to right center field scoring King cutting the Ranger lead in half. The second run came around to score on a sacrifice fly.
Northwestern answered back quickly though in the next half inning after a Rachel Sherwood single to left field, Hannah Howell delivered a two run home run giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead heading into the final half inning.
However Colorado Springs had an answer after three walks to start the inning lead to a Wagner pinch hit grand slam to give Springs a walk off win in game one of the day.
GAME TWO:
The Rangers took the second game of the afternoon behind Gabby Sanchez and Rosemary Rivera driving in four runs each. Kathryn Jones threw her first complete game of the season throwing five innings only allowing one run while striking out two batters in the win for her first of the season.
The teams traded scoreless innings with both pitchers retiring the side in order before the Ranger offense struck big in the second inning.
In the second the inning started with a Howell single followed by a Kaitlyn Corn single for two runners on with nobody out. Rivera drove in the first two runs of the ball game with a 2-RBI single to center field as the Rangers took an early 2-0 lead. With two runners still on base Sanchez hit a three run home run to left field driving in Ashley Low and Rivera for a five run second inning and a 5-0 lead.
After a lead-off double from Pancost Jones worked around the double after forcing a ground out before ending the inning with a strikeout to keep the Rangers up five runs with full momentum.
The Rangers extended their lead in the third inning after a lead-off double by Sherwood, she came around to score on a passed ball. The game remained 6-0 through four innings after Jones worked around a one out single and double with back to back outs.
Northwestern blew the game wide open in the fifth inning after two straight singles to start the inning lead to a two RBI single by Rivera once more for an 8-0 lead. It was Ashley Low and Gabby Sanchez driving in the final runs to push the Ranger lead to 10-0 after the top of the fifth inning.
It was a lead off double for Springs that led to their only run of the game, scoring on a double steal attempt where the Rangers threw out the runner at second.
The Rangers closed out the road trip to start the season of 10 straight on the road and will now play their home opener on Friday February 23rd against Henderson State for the conference opener for a three game series.
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