WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Southern Nazarene split a doubleheader at Southwestern Oklahoma State in the first two games of a Great American Conference series.
 
The Crimson Storm (12-20, 8-12 GAC) won 7-6 in the opener before falling 8-6 in the nightcap.
 
In the opener, the Bulldogs got things going early in the bottom of the first to take the quick 1-0 lead. SWOSU added another run in the third inning to push their lead to 2-0. They increased that lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth before SNU finally got on the board.
 
Victoria Rodriguez reached on a fielding error that scored Jacey James and Kai Sanchez as the Storm cut the SWOSU lead to 3-2. SNU then took advantage of the fourth error of the inning to score four runs on one play to take a 6-3 lead at the end of the top half of the fifth.
 
The Bulldogs cut it to 6-4 with one in the bottom half of the fifth, but SNU got that back on a solo home run to left by Kai Sanchez for her third home run of the year as SNU took a 7-4 lead in the top of the sixth.
 
SWOSU cut the lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh with the winning run at the plate, but Katelyn Brown got a line out to short to end the game.
 
Brown moved to 7-11 on the year with the win as she notched double-digit strikeouts for the second time this year with 10. She gave up six runs, just two earned, on five hits in the complete-game performance.
 
Sanchez posted the only RBI of the game as she went 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Caitlyn Curlee and Brown each went 2-for-4 as Curlee scored a run.
 
In the nightcap, SNU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a Riley Brown double to center and a Sydni Toilolo single to center in consecutive at bats. The Bulldogs cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the second, but the Storm took a 4-1 lead in the top of the third on a Rodriguez two-run single to center.
 
 
The Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the third with three, but the Storm retook the lead in the top of the fourth when Toilolo double to left to give SNU a 5-4 lead. SWOSU took its first lead of the game with three in the bottom half of the fourth to take a 7-5 advantage and added one more in the fifth to lead 8-5. Mahina Sauer made it 8-6 in the top of the sixth with a single up the middle, but that was as close as the Storm came.
 
Both Sauer and Toilolo went 3-for-4 while Katelyn Brown and Rodriguez went 2-for-4. Toilolo and Rodriguez each drove in two runs while Toilolo scored one. Riley Brown also drove in a run while scoring three.
 
Cassidy Davila took her first loss of the year as she fell to 0-1 after giving up three runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning. Brooke State gave up four runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings of work after getting the start.