In their final regular season games against Langston University (6-37, 3-28 SAC) (LU), USAO’s softball (34-13, 24-7 SAC) team celebrated Senior Day on a rainy Friday afternoon. USAO celebrated four seniors, including Kylie Milanic, Jaycee Kievit, Madelyn Blair, and Jaclyn Gray.

The afternoon had two games on the board, but with the light drizzle the second game was canceled. The Drovers picked up a quick 10-0 win against LU in five innings at the Bill Smith Ballpark.

Sophie Williams started on the rubber for the Drovers, where she stayed for three innings. Williams took down LU’s first three batters with a strikeout, pop up, and ground out. On the other hand, Malea McMurtrey singled into right field for the Drovers before stealing second. Williams proceeded to double to the opposite side of the field to score McMurtrey. The final run of the inning came from a single up the middle by Milanic to score Williams. At the end of the first inning, USAO was up 2-0.

In the second inning, the Lions reached first base off an error; however, Williams controlled the game to send the next three batters packing. The first two batters popped up and the third went down swinging. In the second inning, USAO brought in two more runs. Kievet walked, then Jaylee Willis singled up the middle and stole second. Finally, McMurtrey grounded out, but picked up the RBI when Willis scored at home. Going into the third inning, the Drovers were up 4-0.

In her last inning pitching, Williams saw six batters. The Drovers’ three outs came from catching a runner trying to steal second, a fly ball to right field, and a strike out. The Drovers found a consistent rhythm at the plate to bring in another three runs in the third inning. Gray started on the right foot with a homerun over the right field wall. Sierra Selfridge singled, then Milanic tripled to score Selfridge. Finally, Blair grounded out but picked up the RBI when Milanic reached home.

Katelyn Trumbley took the ball from Williams for the fourth inning. In this inning, Trumbley allowed no runs off three hits. She secured her three outs with two ground outs and a fly out. Once again, the Drovers picked up another three runs to increase their lead to 10-0. McMurtrey walked to start the inning, then Gray doubled to left field, which allowed McMurtrey to score. Selfridge singled to place runners in the corners, and Milanic picked up an RBI when she scored Gray off her ground out. USAO’s last run came from a single by Blair which scored Selfridge. The finish off the fifth inning, Lauryn Cottrell threw to three batters, all of which grounded out.

USAO’s softball program is now 22-0 against the Lions. The Drovers will pick their bats up next for the SAC conference tournament which runs Thursday, May 4th, through Monday, May 8th.

Emily Loughridge is a second-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.