ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Nazerene's softball team played Henderson State on Saturday for the final two games of the series. In the first game, SNU was ahead for the majority of the game, but the Reddies would go ahead in the extra innings to win the game with a score of 8-6. In the second game of the day, both teams stayed scoreless until Henderson scored six runs in the fifth inning to win the game 6-0.
In the opener on Saturday afternoon, Brookyn Sparkman got the start in the circle for the Crimson Storm. Sparkman only pitched for just one inning, faced seven batters, and allowed just one run.
Courtney Cox later came in relief for the Storm as she pitched for five innings.
Chelsea Vandiver would come out of the dugout to finish the game as she pitched for one and two-thirds innings and recorded one strikeout. Vandiver was also credited with her fourth loss of the season.
Hailie Fellers had a great first game batting for the Crimson Storm going 2-4 with 3 RBI, and she also scored a run.
Brooklyn Sullivan hit a home-run and also had an RBI.
Mahina Sauer also performed well at the plate going 2-4 with an RBI as well.
In the first inning, Henderson would strike first and go up 1-0 on the Crimson Storm. Both team's bats stayed silent until the fourth inning when Fellers racked up a couple of RBI's to give SNU a one-run lead at 2-1. Later in the same inning,
Natalie Jones hit a fly ball to let Fellers round home for the Storm's third run of the game. The Reddies scored again in the fourth to cut SNU's lead down to just one. Going into the 5th inning, the score was 3-2 in favor of the Storm.
Early in the top of the 5th inning,
Peyton Robinson and
Jacey James both scored to put SNU up by three. Henderson went on to score three more runs in the fifth inning to tie the game at 5-5.
In the 6th inning,
Brooklyn Sullivan hit a booming home run to left field to give the Crimson Storm a one-run advantage. The Reddies scored two more runs in extra innings to win a competitive match-up 8-6.
In the second game of the day,
Madison Arnold got the start for SNU. Arnold pitched for four innings, allowed two runs, and received her first loss of the season.
Brooklyn Sparkman came in relief as she pitched for one inning and threw a strikeout.
Chelsea Vandiver would come out to the circle to pitch for the last inning of the day.
The Crimson Storm were very limited in terms of offensive production in this game. Robinson, Fellers, and Jones each had one hit to account for all three of SNU's hits in the game.
Both teams were scoreless until the 5th inning when the Reddies scored six runs. The game would drag on to the 7th inning, ultimately ending at 6-0 in favor of Henderson as SNU couldn't get anything going at the plate.
Southern Nazarene will look to get back in the winning column next Friday when they come back to their home field for a weekend series against Arkansas Tech. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Cypert Athletic Complex.
