OKLAHOMA CITY - With Senior Day festivities on tap for the Mid-America Christian University softball team on Saturday, the Evangels took the field knowing that in addition to honoring their five seniors, they had a job to do on Saturday. The Evangels faced the Texas Wesleyan University Rams in a crucial double-header in the Sooner Athletic Conference race.
A sweep for either team in the twin bill would assure the victors an inside track toward the third seed in the final conference standings, and at the end of the day, MACU was able to achieve that result.
MACU (24-14, 17-12 SAC) won game one on a walk-off single in the seventh, and the offense exploded late in game two as they completed the sweep of TXWU (20-26, 16-14 SAC) with wins of 4-3 and 9-4.
Texas Wesleyan struck first in game one, but a base-running error proved costly for the Rams. Chyann Jarrett doubled with two out and two on in the second inning, and while one run scored, Jarrett was thrown out at third before the second run could get to the plate, and the Rams had to settle for a 1-0 lead.
Alanna Leisy and Hanna Harris hit successive one out doubles in the bottom of the third to put MACU in front 2-1, and MACU carried the lead into the top of the fifth inning. In the fifth, the Rams plated two runs on a double with one out, but MACU went to the bullpen and Adrienne Phillips stifled the rally by inducing a pair of 6-3 groundouts to end the inning.
Brittany Ward doubled in Hannah Salmon with a run to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, and the game proceeded to the bottom of the seventh tied. With two outs in the inning, Ward doubled to riight-center, and Amber O'Bryant singled her home to give MACU the 4-3 win.
Phillips (2-1) earned the win by retiring all eight batters she faced. She struck out two in the game. Makenna Aycock (11-14), throwing six and two-thirds innings and giving up four earned runs on 13 hits. She walked two and struck out five.
Jessica Holt and O'Bryant were both 3-for-4 with three singles, and O'Bryant had the game-winning RBI. Ward was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI.
Hannah Salmon doubled in two runs in the bottom of the first inning of game two, and MACU took a 2-0 lead into the second inning. The Rams immediately tied the game with a two-run homer, but Regan Martin got out of the inning, and in the bottom of the third, the Evangels got the lead back.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, Harris chopped a grounder just foul on the first pitch she saw from Lacy Mann. She made the most of her new life, and on the next offering, Harris belted a solo home run to left center that gave MACU the 3-2 lead.
In the fifth and sixth, the Evangels' offense poured it on and nearly ended the game in a run-rule win. Salmon tripled in a pair with two away in the sixth, and in the seventh, MACU plated four runs. Holt singled and drove in two in the inning, and O;Bryant and Leisy each had run scoring hits as well in the inning as MACU built a 9-2 lead.
The Rams plated two runs in the top of the seventh against a tiring Martin, but Phillips relieved her and got the final two outs to preserve the win, 9-4.
Martin (12-4) earned the win, yielding four earned runs on nine hits in six and one-third innings. Martin walked three and struck out one. The loss wend to Mann (7-10) who was tagged for nine runs on eight hits in five and one-third.
Leisy was 3-for-4 with two doubles in the game, and she drove in a pair ans scored a run. Bankston and Holt each singled twice in the game, and Salmon was 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, and four RBIs.
MACU will hit the road on Monday, heading to nearby Bethany, Oklahoma to take on Southwestern Christian University (13-25, 7-19 SAC). The double-header is scheduled for 2 p.m.
