By Jared A’Latorre, Sports Editor
The OBU softball team is underway in 2019 with new leadership to begin the season.
The new leader on campus is head softball coach and instructor of Physical Education, Samantha Maples, coming to OBU from Colorado Christian University.
Colorado Christian is coming off a historic season last year with the most wins in program history. Maples joined the Colorado Christian softball program after graduating from Florida Atlantic in 2015.
Maples joined Colorado Christian as a graduate assistant and served as head coach for a few years after that. She is looking to make OBU a playoff contender for the GAC and even nationally.
The OBU softball team started out in Albuquerque, N.M. to begin the season in the beginning of February. The Lady Bison faced Fort Lewis to start the day. It seemed like the Lady Bison could not get passed the pitching game of their opponents. Fort Lewis went on a clinic in the fifth inning of the game and there was no coming back from there on out. Fort Lewis won in the season opener, 9-0.
In the second game of the doubleheader, OBU faced Adams State. It seemed to be a quiet game until the fifth inning when junior Bry Flanagan hit a big three-run homer to break the scoreless match. Senior Demi Dobbs added to the OBU run with a home run of her own. Freshman Katie Long was responsible for the win. The Lady Bison won the second of the doubleheader. This win marked the first victory of Maples’ tenure as head coach for the Lady Bison.
The next day, OBU faced Adams State again. This was the first of two games in the day. In the first inning, the Lady Bison scored off a run to the plate by Kristen Grabin, after a steal by Aspen Grimes.
The second inning was highlighted by a three-run homer from Adams State, tying the game at 3-3. The third inning was filled with two solo homers and a two-run homer from Adams State and they were able to extend the lead, 7-3.
In the fifth inning, the Lady Bison started to pick up the pace with a RBI double from Shelby Savage to make the score 7-5.
In the seventh inning with two outs, Savage came through for the Lady with an RBI triple. She brought two teammates in and the game was tied at 7-7. Later in the inning, Grabin earned an RBI single and brought in Savage to score. The Bison were up 8-7. The Bison were able to have good fielding in the bottom seventh to win the game. Sophomore Grace Van Horn was credited for the win.
In the second game of the doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico, the Lady Bison seemed gassed to get things going. The only bright spot of the game was a Cheyenne Demaree solo home run in the sixth inning. The Lady Bison fell short of this game, 4-1.
With the Lady Bison at a 2-2 record, they will look forward to a date with a familiar face, Colorado Christian University coming up in the middle of the week. The Lady Bison will defend home plate twice this week Tuesday, February 12 and Wednesday, February 13.
thebisonnews.com 
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