BETHANY – The Southern Nazarene softball team wrapped up their GAC opening series on Saturday afternoon with a couple of dominant victories over Henderson State 8-3 and 10-0 in their doubleheader at Cypert Athletic Complex.
The bats stayed hot for the Crimson Storm (5-6, 3-0 GAC) as they racked up 22 hits, 11 in each game as they put the Reddies (1-4, 0-3 GAC) in a tough spot to get anything going. HSU got nine hits in the first game of the day, but the Storm's strong defense closed the door in the nightcap as they allowed just one hit.
Caitlyn Curlee led the way for Southern Nazarene at the plate as she combined to go 5-for-6 at the dish with a combined three RBI and three runs scored. In the opener, she went 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Sydney Everhart was the only other Storm hitter with multiple hits as she finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.
Mahina Sauer went 1-for-3 with an RBI in the opener while
Skye Ah Yat also drove in a run and finished 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Hailie Fellers tallied one hit and one run scored while
Sydney Sundbye continued her stellar hitting at the plate, finishing 1-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored.
Chelsea Vandiver got the start in the circle for SNU in the first game as she earned her first victory of the season. She tossed a full 7.0 innings and allowed three earned runs on nine hits while also striking out four Reddie hitters.
Curlee got things going in the bottom of the first as her single to right field scored Sauer to give the Storm the early 1-0 lead. Henderson came back in the top of the third by pushing across two runs to take a 2-1 lead, before Sauer's sacrifice bunt scored Everhart to tie it up 2-2. Later in the bottom of the third, Ah Yat's sacrifice bunt scored Fellers to give the Storm the lead back at 3-2. The Reddies countered again in the top of the fifth with a solo home-run to tie it back up at 3-3.
The Crimson Storm bats woke back up in the bottom of the sixth as they pushed five runs across the plate to ballon their lead. Sundbye got it going with her single to score Curlee to make it 4-3, before
Riah Smith's single scored Ah Yat to make it 5-3.
Camaryn Alexander singled to score Sundbye before Everhart's double to left field scored Alexander and
Emma Nightengale to push the advantage to five heading to the last half-inning. Henderson had one final chance but SNU closed the door.
Brooklyn Sparkman got the start in the circle for Southern Nazarene in the nightcap and series finale and she was fantastic. She tossed 2.0 innings and struck out four Reddies and didn't allow a hit.
Jayleigh Totten and
Cassidy Davila came in out of the bullpen and provided great relief as Totten tossed 2.0 innings and allowed just one hit. Davila came in to close out the game and struck out two in one inning of action.
Curlee led the way at the dish for a second straight game, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Hailie Fellers also had a strong nightcap game as she finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, while
Skye Ah Yat also recorded multiple hits as she went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Sydney Everthart,
Natalie Jones,
Mahina Sauer,
Chloe Pender, and
Kahea Wakinekona all got in on the party at the plate as they each had one hit in the game as well.
Southern Nazarene's bats remained scorching as they scored three in the bottom of the first. Ah Yat got it going with a single to score Everhart to make it 1-0, before Fellers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded that scored Jones to push it to 2-0. Sparkman's sacrifice fly to center field scored Sauer to extend the Storm lead to 3-0.
The Crimson Storm added two more runs in the bottom of the second when Everhart doubled to left to score Alexander and Jones also doubled to score Everhart to balloon the SNU lead to 5-0. Later in the inning, Fellers' two-RBI double scored Curlee and Jones to make it 7-0, while Pender's single to right field scored Fellers to push it to 8-0. In the bottom of the third, Curlee's two-run home run to left added insult to injury as SNU took a 10-0 lead and closed out Henderson in 5.0 innings, their second run-rule of the series.
Southern Nazarene will be back home next weekend as they host Southeastern Oklahoma State at Cypert Athletic Complex. First pitch with the Savage Storm on Friday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
