On Friday, March 7, the number three ranked USAO softball team (11-3, 4-0 SAC) defeated the Wayland Baptist University (WBU) Pioneers (8-12, 2-6 SAC) twice on the second day of the conference opener in Texas. The Drovers swept all four games in the series, winning 3-0 and 4-2 on Thursday, followed by winning again 13-2 and 10-1 on Friday.
Game one:
USAO began the game evenly matched on offense with WBU in the first inning. Sophomore catcher Leighanne Eaton homered to left field, scoring her second of the season and senior designated player Sierra Selfridge an early 2-0 lead for the Drovers. An error in the bottom of the first allowed two WBU baserunners to reach home and tie the scoreboard at 2-2. Senior pitcher Sophie Williams closed the inning with a strikeout, turning the bats back to the Drovers.
Both teams played sound defense in the second inning, but the USAO batters returned to work in the third. After junior shortstop Malea McMurtrey stole second base, sophomore right fielder Kinzie Williams singled to centerfield and put the Drovers back in the lead. More insurance came when Selfridge and Eaton batted in back-to-back dingers, which was the second for Eaton in the game and third for Selfridge in the season. The USAO fielders fended off the WBU batters, with S. Williams recording another strikeout and locking a 5-2 lead after three innings.
The USAO offense continued to control the pace in the fourth inning, when freshman pinch runner Madelyn Torrenueva and McMurtrey stole three bases and reached home on back-to-back runs across the diamond. Selfridge and K. Williams then took advantage of an error by the WBU shortstop to cross home for another pair of runs. S. Williams struck out a third batter while the Pioneers saw no action, keeping the Drovers ahead 9-2.
The Drovers continued to dominate the Pioneers in the fifth inning. K. Williams began a batting rally where junior third baseman Taygan Graham, McMurtrey, Selfridge and herself all crossed the home plate one-by-one. After S. Williams struck out her fourth batter, sophomore pitcher Gabby Toquothty stepped onto the mound and at once followed with a strikeout of her own. After a pop-up to McMurtrey, the game ended early on a 13-2 mercy rule victory for USAO.
Game two:
The second game began with a stalemate, as neither team scored in the first inning. USAO baserunners loaded the bases following two ground outs, but a strikeout turned the batting lineup over to the Pioneers.
Offense came back strong in the second inning, as six baserunners secured an early lead for the Drovers. After junior third baseman Jadyn Goucher scored the first run to give USAO the lead, following her trail on the diamond was Graham, sophomore centerfielder Jordan Ramsay and McMurtrey as each loaded the bases and crossed the home plate. Two more singles from senior first baseman Shaylann Grace and junior leftfielder Kamryn James brought trips for K. Williams and Eaton, bringing the scoreboard tally up 6-0 for USAO. The fielding on the bottom left the Pioneers scoreless after two innings of action.
A change of pace occurred in third inning where the WBU fielders left the Drovers without any action. With one out staying, a double to the left center resulted in the first run for the Pioneers, lessening the gap to 6-1 to close out the inning.
The Drovers continued to hold onto the lead with productive bats in the fourth inning. Chronic kept the scoring power going after Grace doubled to the right field, then Eaton went into clutch and earned another run with only one out left. In the bottom, Junior pitcher Abi Gregory recorded her first strikeout on the mound before the inning closed with USAO leading WBU 8-1.
The fifth inning had the Drovers keep increasing the lead and leaving the Pioneers without any action on the plate. After K. Williams stole second and third base, both Selfridge and Eaton swung single RBIs to pull K. Williams and Torrenueva home and put double digits on the board. After Toquothty relieved Gregory in the circle, a fly out and two ground outs to the fielders ended the game 10-1, finishing the WBU series with back-to-back mercy rule victories and a four game sweep for the Drovers.
The pitching staff of S. Williams, Toquothty, and Gregory combined for seven strikeouts, two hits, and two walks. S. Williams struck out the most batters at five and allowed only one hit. Toquothty and Gregory followed with one strikeout each, while Gregory allowed four hits and walked two batters. Toquothty had the highest strike percentage with 72.2%, followed by S. Williams with 66.7% and Gregory with 55.6%. S. Williams pitched the most innings in the circle at 4.1, while Gregory pitched 4.0 and Toquothty pitched 1.2 innings.
Selfridge led the batting lineup going seven-for-eight at the plate, with two hits leading to four runs. Following Selfridge were K. Williams, Eaton and Grace with five hits each. Selfridge, K. Williams, Eaton, and McMurtrey scored the most runs with four each. As a team, the Drovers earned 23 runs across both games.
USAO will return home to Bill Smith Ballpark and play a doubleheader against Peru State College (PSC) Wednesday, March 12. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 4 p.m., then the day will wrap up with game two at 6 p.m.
Jordan Prewitt is a fifth-year English major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
