OKLAHOMA CITY – After a rocky finish to game one of their double-header on Tuesday afternoon, the Mid-America Christian University softball team needed something big to happen to inject some extra energy in the Lady Evangels' dugout.
Enter Hanna Harris.
The junior from Bridge Creek, Oklahoma clobbered the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the third inning for a 1-out Grand Slam as MACU (3-1) salvaged a double-header split with the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles (3-2). OKWU took the win in game one 11-6, and MACU took game two 4-1.
MACU struck first in game one when Amber O'Bryant scored on a broken play in the bottom of the second inning. The Lady Evangels added two more runs in the third thanks to a trio of Oklahoma Wesleyan errors to build a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, however, the wheels fell off for MACU. OKWU put the first seven batters on base, and the Eagles sent 14 hitters to the plate in the inning, scoring 10 runs on just six hits in the process. The Evangels plated a pair of runs on a two-RBI single from Hannah Salmon in the bottom of the frame, and though each team plated a run later in the game, the Eagles took the win 11-6 in game one.
Ashleigh Capps (2-1) earned the win, throwing the complete game and allowing six runs – four earned – on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts to earn the win. Regan Martin (1-1) was hit with the loss, yielding seven runs – six earned – on 13 hits in four innings.
Harris and Larie Amos each had two singles in the game, and Salmon finished the game with three RBIs.
Oklahoma Wesleyan scored first in game two, when Britney Howard singled home Michaels Shouldis to put the Eagles up 1-0, and MACU only mustered one baserunner in the first two innings, but in the third, MACU finally broke through. Kortney Brown drew a one-out walk, and Ribbin Anderson and Jessica Holt followed with singles which loaded the bases for Harris. Harris ambushed the first pitch, launching a long grand slam to left field that put MACU on top 4-1, and that proved to be plenty for Courtney Anderson.
Anderson allowed only three hits and four base runners in the final four innings of the game, and though the Lady Evangels were unable to add on any runs, the Evangels took the win 4-1.
Anderson (2-0) scattered six hits and one walk over seven innings, and she allowed only one earned run with four strikeouts. Abbey Ely (1-1) yielded four earned runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings, and she fanned five Lady Evangels. Jessica Holt had the only multi-hit game for the Lade Evangels in the game, posting a 2-for-3 afternoon with a run scored.
MACU will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Lady Evangels welcome the Coyotes of Kansas Wesleyan (2-1) to Jack Allen Field on Saturday afternoon for a Noon double-header.
