USAO softball (2-0, 0-0 SAC) opened the 2025 season with two consecutive victories on the road at the Southern Collegiate Sports NAIA Invitational in Mesquite, Texas, Friday, Feb. 7. According to the NAIA preseason poll, the Drovers entered as the number two ranked team in the country, only behind defending World Series champion Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) at the top spot.
USAO played the first game of the invitational against the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds (0-1, 0-0 CCC) from Vancouver, Canada.
The Drovers dominated the Thunderbirds for the first five innings. Sophomore catcher Leighanne Eaton and sophomore right fielder Kinzie Williams each batted in the USAO baserunners to home base, outscoring UBC with a 6-0 lead.
By the top of the sixth inning, one UBC baserunner managed to cross the plate and scored the Thunderbirds their first run. As the Drovers denied the UBC batters any further runs on top of the seventh inning, the game ended with USAO grabbing their first win of the season 6-1.
The Drovers wrapped up the day facing the Bethany College (BC) Swedes (1-2, 0-0 KCAC) from Lindsborg, Kan.
USAO once again breezed past the opposing team and prevented the Swedes from reaching home plate. The Drovers scored on top of the first alongside two more runs on the board in the fourth and seventh innings, as Eaton and junior first baseman Jadyn Goucher propelled three baserunners to home. Goucher also scored her first home run of the season. USAO defeated the Swedes 3-0 and finished the day on a two-game sweep.
Senior pitcher Sophie Williams and sophomore pitcher Jayden Anderson toed the mound to start the season right, as both combined for 13 strikeouts, five hits, and five walks. Anderson struck the most batters out with nine, only allowed one hit, and walked four batters. S. Williams struck four batters out, allowed four hits, and walked one batter. S. Williams and Anderson each pitched all seven innings against UBC and BC, respectively.
Leading the batting lineup in hits was junior shortstop Malea McMurtrey going five for seven, while also scoring the most runs with five. K. Williams followed McMurtrey with two runs. In total, the Drovers earned nine runs across both games.
USAO will complete their trip at the NAIA Invitational with another double-header where they will face Cottey College (CC) and Missouri Baptist University (MBU). USAO will play CC Saturday Feb. 8, 11:00 p.m., then wrap the day up with MBU at 1:30 p.m.
Jordan Prewitt is a fifth-year English major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
