OKLAHOMA CITY – Monday afternoon was chilly and very windy, but that did not stop the Mid-America Christian University softball team from opening their spring break week with a home non-conference twin bill. The Lady Evangels welcomed in the Haskell Indian Nations University Indians, and the Lady Evangels took victories in both games, but in very different manners.
MACU (16-6) pounded Haskell (4-13) in game one 18-4 in five innings, and though the Lady Evangels never trailed in game two, the Indians kept things much closer, as MACU won the back half of the day 7-4.
Mid-America wasted no time in jumping out on top in game one. Ribbin Anderson led off the game with a single, and one out later, she scored on a double from Hanna Harris. Larie Amos then doubled home Harris to double the Lady Evangels' lead, and she moved up to third on the throw to the plate to try and retire Harris. Hannah Salmon followed with an RBI-single to knock in Amos, and later in the inning, Salmon scored on a ground out from Stella Millican to cap a four-run inning.
MACU batted around for a second straight inning in the second. The first six batters of the inning all reached safely, and Salmon and Millican each had two-RBI singles in the frame as MACU piled on seven runs on five hits to break the game open and take an 11-0 lead.
Haskell got on the board in the top of the third, as they took advantage of a MACU error to plate four unearned tallies off MACU starting pitcher Larie Amos, with all four runs crossing the plate with two outs in the inning.
MACU, however, delivered the knockout blow in the bottom of the third frame with another seven-spot. Jessica Johnson drove in two with a double in the inning, Larie Amos tripled home a run, Courtney Hickman lifted a sacrifice fly, Kortney Brown had an RBI-double, and Harris singled home Brown to cap the scoring and stretch MACU's lead to 18-4.
Neither team scored in the fourth or the fifth, and MACU claimed game one on the run-rule, 18-4.
Amos (5-1) earned the win in the circle, throwing three innings and giving up four unearned runs on three hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Kylee Sellers (1-6) lasted two and two-thirds innings, and she was tagged for 17 runs – 12 of them earned – on 12 hits, four walks, and two strikeouts in the loss.
Ribbin Anderson was 4-for-4 with three runs scored in the game; and Salmon was 3-fo-4 with a triple, three runs scored, and four RBIs. Brown, Harris, Amos, and Millican all singled and doubled in the game; Brown and Millican each scored twice, Harris and Amos each knocked in two, and Millican had three RBIs.
MACU jumped on top again in the second game, as Anderson led off the game with a walk, and Larissa Tate followed with a two-run inside-the-park home run to left to give MACU a 2-0 lead. Anderson and Jessica Holt each had two-out RBI singles in the second inning, and after two innings, MACU led 4-0.
The score remained unchanged into the fifth frame, but in the top of the fifth, the Indians began to come back. Haskell took advantage of two MACU errors to get their offense rolling, and when the dust had settled on the frame, Haskell had plated three runs to pull within one at 4-3.
Haskell gave two of the three runs right back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out error that allowed Salmon and Shelby Hicks to score, as MACU pushed their lead back to 6-3. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Evangels loaded the baes on three straight walks, but they scored only one run, on a fielder's choice ground out from Salmon that plated Amber O'Bryant, and heading to the seventh, MACU's lead was 7-3. Haskell tallied a run in the seventh, but Courtney Anderson limited the damage to just the one run, and MACU held on for the win, 7-4.
Regan Martin (4-1) earned the win, throwing six innings and allowing three runs, one of them earned, on three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. Brianna Smith (2-1) took the loss, yielding six earned runs on six hits, two walks, and two strikeouts in five innings of work.
Ribbin Anderson was 2-for-2 with two walks, a run scored, and an RBI; and Salmon was the only other MACU player with a multi-hit game as she went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Tate was 1-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs, and Holt was 1-for-1 with two walks, a run, and two RBIs.
The Lady Evangels will be back in Sooner Athletic Conference play as they will welcome Central Christian College (6-18, 1-11 SAC) into Oklahoma City for a four-game weekend series. The teams will play double-headers on Friday and Saturday, with Friday's proceedings beginning at 2 p.m., and Saturday's games starting at Noon.
