RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech softball team picked up a pair of one-run wins on Friday to sweep the day's doubleheader against Northwestern Oklahoma and secure the series with one more game to be played on Saturday.
GAME ONE
In the opener, Northwestern Oklahoma jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first. The Golden Suns were able to match that run in the bottom half within two batters of their lineup as
Lexi Gorniak laid down a successful sacrifice bunt that scored
Shelby Chavers, who tripled in the at-bat prior to lead off for the Golden Suns.
An inning later, the Golden Suns got another leadoff extra-base hit, this time with
Maycie Hardy doubling to left field. Hardy was then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by
Savannah Snow. At third with one out, Hardy scored in the next at-bat as
Abigail Lochala dropped a RBI single into shallow left field to give the Golden Suns a 2-1 lead.
That score would end up holding up the rest of the way as Tech starter
Bradi Basler got through three innings before handing things over to
Jaycee McKee, who handled the four innings without allowing a run to score. McKee would allow just one base hit and induced 11 groundball outs out of the 12 batters she retired.
McKee's excellent relief pitching resulted in her picking up her first collegiate victory in the circle.
GAME TWO
The second game was a scoreless draw until the top of the fifth when Northwestern Oklahoma broke through for two runs on two hits in the frame. The Rangers then got an insurance run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-0 lead.
At the time, heading into the bottom of the seventh, a three-run deficit felt like it could have been even larger as the Golden Suns had just two base runners to that point and no hits.
All of that changed in the bottom of the seventh, however, as the Golden Suns' offense woke up in a big way.
Aidan Gorton led off with a four-pitch and was promptly pinch-ran for by
Lillee Mahan.
Maycie Hardy then got Tech's first hit of the game with an infield single in the 5-6 hole. Hardy was then pinch-ran for by
Arissa Harrish. The Golden Suns then loaded the bases as
Savannah Snow hit a single in the right-centerfield gap.
Anna Winkfield then came on to pinch-run for Snow.
With the bases loaded and a trio of pinch-runners, the Golden Suns got their first run of the game on a RBI single to right-centerfield by
Abigail Lochala, scoring Mahan and keeping the bases loaded.
Belen Sanchez was then called upon to pinch-run for Lochala.
A subsequent move was made by the Rangers as they went to the bullpen for a pitching change and brought back their starter from game one, Hannah Howell.
The first batter she faced was
Kacie Gibbins and four pitches later, it was a one-run game as Howell walked Gibbins to force in the second run for Tech.
The Golden Suns then went to their bench once more, this time for a pinch-hitter and called upon
Adrianna Cooney. Cooney would have a quality at-bat and worked the count full before she connected on a double to left-centerfield for the walk-off hit as Winkfield and Sanchez scored on the play.
Jaycee McKee, who picked up her first win of her college career in the opener, added a second win to her ledger as she was the pitcher of record going into the bottom of the seventh after she came on in relief in the top of the seventh.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns and Rangers will close out their weekend series on Saturday morning with a single-game scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
