BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene softball team couldn't have asked for a better start in their 2021 Great American Conference opening game, as they lit up Henderson State 10-2 with a walk-off in the bottom of the fifth inning on Friday afternoon.
The Crimson Storm (3-6, 1-0 GAC) looked comfortable at the plate all game long, as they racked up 14 hits in the game, a season high for SNU. They held the Reddies (1-2, 0-1 GAC) to just six hits in the game despite falling behind early in the game.
Five different Storm hitters finished with multiple hits in the contest as
Sydney Sundbye led the way at the dish. She finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Sydney Everhart,
Caitlyn Curlee,
Skye Ah Yat, and
Brooklyn Sparkman each tallied two hits in the game as Everhart collected two RBI's while Curlee registered one.
Natalie Jones stole the show in the bottom of the fifth as her only hit was the walk-off that scored a couple of runs.
Riah Smith came on to pinch hit and went 1-for-1 with a run scored while
Camaryn Alexander's three RBI's were a team-high as she finished 1-for-2 at the dish.
Brooklyn Sparkman got the start in the circle for Southern Nazarene and the senior earned her second victory of the season. She tossed 5.0 innings and struck out seven batters on six hits and two earned runs.
Henderson State came out firing in the first inning as Czoey White's two-run homer to left field quickly made it a 2-0 Reddie lead. Surprisingly that would be the only runs HSU would push across the plate for the rest of the contest. SNU got a run in the bottom of the first when Curlee's groundout to second base scored Everhart to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Later in the second, Everhart rocketed one to left center that scored Sundbye and
Emma Nightengale to give the Storm its first lead at 3-2. After that, they didn't take their foot off the gas. In the fourth, Sundbye singled up the middle to score Curlee and Ah Yat to push the SNU lead to 5-2, before Alexander's double scored Smith, Sundbye and Sparkman to balloon the Storm advantage to 8-2. SNU entered the bottom of the fifth needing just two runs for the run-rule and after Curlee and Ah Yat got on base, Jones delivered the dagger to left field that gave the Storm its first GAC win of the year.
Southern Nazarene will be back in action tomorrow to wrap up the series with Henderson State in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled with the Reddies for 12:00 p.m.
