OBU softball team overcomes with a pair of wins

By Michael Stewart, Assistant Sports Editor

The Lady Bison wrapped up a four-game series with Arkansas Tech University on Saturday, March 25 at the Bison Stadium.

After dropping a pair of tight contests on Friday, the Lady Bison swept the Saturday series to even out the final overall wins and losses to 2-2 in the two-day series.

In the first of the four games, the Lady Bison struggled to get the bats going, ultimately resulting in a 5-1 loss.

“Our game plan was to be smart at the plate,” junior Bailee Saye said. 

The Lady Bison were able to hold the opponent scoreless through four innings; however, the struggle swinging the bats proved to spoil the Lady Bison plan for success.

Hours later, the Lady Bison nearly upended their earlier defeat.

Despite a great effort defensively and a solid performance from pitcher, Bailee Saye, the Lady Bison lost 3-4 and fell to 0-2 in the four-game series.

“We never gave up,” freshman Kursten Burgene said.

“It would have been easy to roll over after we fell behind in the first inning, but we didn’t.”

With the first day of the two-day series in the rearview mirror, the Lady Bison turned their sights to day two.

Heading into Saturday, the Lady Bison felt comfortable having seen the opponent twice already.

“We’re prepared,” Burgene said. “We’ve seen every pitcher they can throw at us.”

This extra preparedness proved to serve OBU well, as they got back on track with a 2-1 walk-off win in the 10th inning by freshman Morgan Hughes.

The Lady Bison performance also featured solid defense, only allowing a single run in the sixth inning.

“Sometimes it can be difficult [playing the same team four times in two days],” senior Madison Vaughn said. “But, there are also some advantages.”

Bailee Saye went the full ten innings for the Lady Bison, allowing one unearned run and striking out six.

In the last game of the series, the Lady Bison turned it into two straight wins with a final score of 2-1.

The Lady Bison were fueled by a second straight freshman walk-off in the seventh inning, this time by freshman Cheyenne Demaree.

“It was key for us to keep our composure even when they tied it up [in the seventh inning],” Vaughn said.

“We were able to stay locked in and finish.”

The Lady Bison had a total of seven hits in the game, led by junior Miranda Garza with two of her own.

Next on the schedule for the Lady Bison, they host Rogers State University March 28.

Posteriorly, Oklahoma Baptist softball team will face Northwestern Oklahoma State University to a four-game conference home stand on March 31 and April  at the Bison Stadium. 

The Lady Bison possesses a 9-18 overall record.