ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Softball battled Oklahoma Baptist to two one-run games Monday afternoon. The Rangers dropped the game after Oklahoma Baptist used four one-run innings to win 4-3. In game two, Oklahoma Baptist used two runs late in the game to take a 5-4 win.
Northwestern Oklahoma State falls to 9-28 on the season with a 5-18 conference record. Oklahoma Baptist improves to 25-14 on the season.
GAME ONE:
The Rangers had five different players each with a hit, as Rachel Sherwood led the team with a 2-RBI game, with Avery Clark having the third RBI.
Madelyn Cason finished off a complete game in the loss with seven innings striking out two.
Oklahoma Baptist struck early on in the game after a walk and a stolen base set up a runner in scoring position, which led to a sacrifice fly scoring Cook and an early 1-0 lead over the Rangers.
Northwestern quickly answered back with two runs in the first inning. Rachel Sherwood hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Jadyn Muns to tie the game at 1-1. Avery Clark followed with an RBI single, scoring Macy Spearman to take a 2-1 lead in the opening inning.
Rangers worked around an error in the second inning as the teams traded zeros before Oklahoma Baptist evened the score in the third inning. A Cook single, followed by a stolen base, led to a second sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
The game remained 2-2 into the fifth inning before a Northwestern error led to a scoring error and a 3-2 lead for the Bison. Oklahoma Baptist extended the lead in the top of the seventh inning on a solo home run by Greene to give the visitors a 4-2 lead.
The Rangers tried to rally in the seventh after a Madeline Pack double to left field, later coming around to score on a fielder's choice, but the comeback fell just short as the Rangers lost 4-3 after a ground out closed the game out and a series win for Oklahoma Baptist.
GAME TWO:
In the second game of the afternoon, the Rangers had seven different players with a hit in the game. Macy Spearman, Madeline Pack, Delaynie Esterly, and Kaitlyn Corn all had an RBI.
Kathryn Jones pitched five innings in the game before Madelyn Cason pitched the final 1 ? innings, striking out two.
Oklahoma Baptist struck first in the game with two first inning runs, as Greene doubled to left center field driving in one run, before a Max single scored Greene for the 2-0 lead.
The Bison extended the lead in the third inning as Wells hit a solo home run to give the Bison a 3-0 lead.
Northwestern got one back in the third inning to answer back as Pack hit a solo home run, cutting the deficit back to 3-1. The Rangers continued to cut into the deficit after a Rosemary Rivera double led to a Corn single to right field for the 3-2 game.
The Rangers scored the third straight run to come back and tie the game after a Muns single led to a Spearman triple to right field scoring Muns to even the score.
Greene and Laskowski singled in the sixth inning to start a two-run inning to regain the lead. An RBI single pushed the game to 4-3 before a Stanford single made the game 5-3 through the top of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Esterly followed a Clark double with an RBI single to cut the deficit in half to a 5-4 game.
Northwestern worked around a seventh inning jam to keep the game at 5-4 but the Bison closed the game out to seal the 5-4 win over the Rangers.
The Rangers will travel to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, next to face Henderson State for a three-game series. The first game is scheduled for 2:00 PM, with the second game at 4:00 PM for the Friday doubleheader.
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