CHOCTAW, Okla. – It was a tale of two games to close out the UCO/OC Festival at Bouse Sports Complex for Southern Nazarene's softball team on Monday. SNU fell 2-1 in the opener to Nebraska-Kearney, and bounced back with a 10-9 walk-off win over Newman in the nightcap.
After the bats went to sleep in the opener against the Lopers (4-6), the Crimson Storm (2-6) worked their magic in the nightcap with a season-high 13 hits against the Jets (2-5). In the opener, SNU managed eight hits but left 10 runners on base which made all the difference in the game.
Brooklyn Sparkman got the start in the circle for the Crimson Storm in the opener as she took her third loss of the season. She tossed all seven innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts. Sparkman also led the way at the plate for SNU as she was the only Storm hitter to record multiple hits. She went 2-for-2.
Caitlyn Curlee and
Skye Ah Yat each finished 1-for-3 at the dish while
Natalie Jones and
Hailie Fellers each went 1-for-4 with Fellers also scoring a run.
Camaryn Alexander finished 1-for-2 at the plate while
Victoria Rodriguez recorded the game's only RBI for Southern Nazarene.
The Crimson Storm got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Rodriguez reached on a fielder's choice that scored Fellers to give SNU the 1-0 lead. The Lopers bounced back in the top of the third with one run to tie things up at 1-1. After defense dominated in the next four and a half innings, it was UNK who struck in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead. SNU had one final chance to make something happen, but the Lopers closed the door and took the game.
The nightcap game had a much different vibe as the Crimson Storm's bats finally came alive.
Chelsea Vandiver got the start in the circle for SNU in the finale as she tossed 3.0 innings and allowed five runs, four earned on four hits, three walks to go with three strikeouts.
Hannah Sattler picked up her first win of her career as the freshman had a solid outing from the bullpen. She tossed 3.2 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits to go with three strikeouts.
Skye Ah Yat and
Camaryn Alexander led the way at the dish for Southern Nazarene as Ah Yat finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and three runs scored while Alexander went 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run pushed across.
Sydney Sundbye went 2-for-5 with one run scored at the dish while
Caitlyn Curlee went 2-for-5 with a season-high four RBI, two runs scored and her first grand slam of the season.
Sydney Everhart went 2-for-3 with an RBI while
Hailie Fellers finished 1-for-3 with one run scored.
Newman got things going in the opening inning as they pushed three runs across the plate to take an early 3-0 lead. The Crimson Storm bounced back in the bottom of the first when Everhart's single scored Ah Yat to cut into the Jets lead at 3-1. The fireworks really started in the bottom of the second when Alexander's double to right field scored
Brooklyn Sullivan to make it 3-2, before
Natalie Jones reached on a Newman error that scored Alexander to tie it 3-3. After the Storm loaded the bases, Curlee stepped in and fired a bomb to center field that soared over the fence and ballooned the Storm lead to 7-3.
Newman however wasn't going down without a fight. They added two runs in the top of the third and one more in the fourth to tie it up at 7-7. In the top of the sixth, the Jets took the lead back at 8-7 before Ah Yat's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth tied it again at 8-8. Later in the inning, the Storm took the lead back when
Chloe Pender reached on a fielder's choice that scored Curlee on an error to give SNU a 9-8 lead heading into the final inning. After the Jets pushed a run across in the top of the seventh to tie it 9-9, SNU had another chance to walk it off.
After the Storm got a couple baserunners, Fellers scored the winning run on a passed ball to give SNU the 10-9 victory.
Southern Nazarene will open up Great American Conference play this weekend at home as they host Henderson State on Friday and Saturday. The single game on Friday afternoon starts at 3:00 p.m. and the doubleheader Saturday gets going at 12:00 p.m.
