SHAWNEE, Okla. – Southern Nazarene's softball team traveled east down I-40 on Tuesday night for a GAC doubleheader with Oklahoma Baptist at the Bison Softball Park. SNU's bats were reeling all night long as they took both games 11-1 and 4-3 from their cross-town rivals.
The Crimson Storm (8-8, 6-2 GAC) are starting to find their rhythm at the plate as they've scored 5+ runs in five of their last seven games and are winners of three of their last four GAC contests. In the opening game of the night, SNU's sticks compiled 10 hits while the defense was sharp and containing the Bison (8-5, 4-4 GAC) offense.
Brooklyn Sparkman got the nod for SNU on the rubber as she earned her fourth victory of the season. She tossed 7.0 innings and struck out five hitters on five hits and just one earned run. Sparkman also drove in a run at the plate for the Storm as well.
Three different Storm batters launched a home run in the first game as
Mahina Sauer led the way for SNU by going 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run scored and a homer.
Hailie Fellers and
Brooklyn Sullivan also tacked on a couple of bombs that sailed over the fence as Fellers finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored and a couple of RBI while Sullivan recorded a team-high three RBI with a run scored as well.
Sydney Sundbye joined Sauer with multiple hits as she went 2-for-4 while
Morgan Brannon recorded one hit, one RBI, and two runs scored.
The fireworks started early as Fellers' two-run homer in the top of the second pushed
Caitlyn Curlee and the second baseman across the plate to give Southern Nazarene the early 2-0 lead. In the next inning, Sauer's two-run bomb scored the senior and
Skye Ah Yat to extend the advantage to 4-0 before OBU got on the board in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-1.
SNU added more runs in the fourth when Brannon reached on an error that scored Fellers, while Sullivan's sacrifice bunt scored Brannon to push the SNU lead back to four at 6-1. Later in the sixth, Sullivan's two-RBI home run made it 8-1, before Sparkman's single in the top of the seventh scored
Emma Nightengale to ballon the SNU lead to 9-1. The Crimson Storm added two more runs in the same inning to put the game out of reach for the Bison.
Chelsea Vandiver got the start in the circle for Southern Nazarene in the nightcap and the senior earned her third win of the season. She also tossed a complete game, striking out four OBU hitters while allowing six hits and two earned runs. For the second consecutive game, Sauer homered and led the way at the dish. She finished 2-for-3 with a couple of RBI and a run scored on top of the bomb.
Joining Sauer with multiple hits in the finale on Tuesday was
Natalie Jones who went 2-for-4 with a couple of runs scored while Sparkman also homered to go 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Fellers finished 1-for-4 while
Skye Ah Yat went 1-for-2 with an RBI as well.
Sauer got the party started in the nightcap with her solo shot to right to give the Storm the early 1-0 lead. The Bison tied the game with a run in the bottom of the second before SNU got the lead back in the fifth when Sauer singled to score Jones. Holding a 2-1 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth, Oklahoma Baptist took their first lead of the night by pushing two runs across the plate to lead 3-2. Sparkman's solo home run in the top of the sixth tied it 3-3, before Ah Yat singled through the left side in the seventh to score Jones to give SNU the lead back at 4-3. Vandiver came out in the final half inning and closed the door on the Bison.
Southern Nazarene will be back on the road on Friday and Saturday as they head to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State. First pitch on Friday with the Bulldogs is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
