ALVA, Okla. – Southern Nazarene's softball team brought out their brooms on Friday as they completed the series sweep over Northwestern Oklahoma State with a pair of 12-5 and 18-10 victories in the GAC doubleheader.
The Crimson Storm (15-14, 13-7 GAC) racked up double-digit hits and runs in every game of the series against the Rangers (7-19, 2-18 GAC) as their bats continued to stay hot on Friday.
Game 1:
Chelsea Vandiver got the start in the circle for SNU in the first game of the day as she tossed 3.1 innings and allowed seven hits but just two runs.
Brooklyn Sparkman was called on out of the Storm bullpen and she silenced the Rangers to a tune of six strikeouts in 3.0 innings. Madi Arnold also saw action in the final inning as she struck out one batter.
It was truly a career day for
Mahina Sauer at the plate. In the Friday doubleheader, the senior slugger finished 6-for-8 with 10 RBI's, five runs scored, and three home runs. All three of Sauer's homers came in the opening game as that sets a new career-high for her in one contest. She racked up six RBI's in the first game of the doubleheader, which is also a career-high for her.
Hailie Fellers also notched a new career-high as she hit two homers in game one and her five RBI's are also the most she's tallied in a single game in her career. Sauer and Fellers combined for 11 of the Storm's 12 RBI's in the 12-5 win over the Rangers as
Skye Ah Yat drove in the other run with her 1-for-2 finish at the dish.
Natalie Jones finished 1-for-5 with two runs scored while Sparkman and
Kaley Knox each finished with a hit as well.
After a couple of scoreless innings, Sauer got the party started in the third inning with a solo homer to right field to give Southern Nazarene the 1-0 lead. The Rangers responded in the top of the fourth by pushing a couple of runs across the plate before Ah Yat's single in the fifth scored Jones to tie it up at 2-2. NWOSU hit a home run in the fifth to re-take the lead at 3-2, before SNU's monster final two innings at the plate blew the game wide open.
Fellers hit a missile over the center field fence that scored Knox to make it 4-3 in favor of SNU, before Sauer launched her second home run of the day, a two-run homer, to extend the Storm advantage to 6-3. After Fellers found herself at the plate again in the top of the seventh, she hit a three-run homer to center to balloon the SNU lead to 9-3. Later in the same inning, Sauer gave the Storm some insurance runs with her three-run bomb to center field to make it 12-3. Northwestern pushed a couple of runs across the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but the SNU defense slammed the door on any potential comeback from the Rangers.
Game 2:
Hannah Sattler got the start in the circle in the series finale as she tossed 4.0 innings and struck out five Ranger hitters on four hits.
Chelsea Vandiver and
Brooklyn Sparkman each came in out of the bullpen for SNU as the duo combined for a couple of strikeouts.
The first inning for Southern Nazarene in the nightcap was a memorable one. They scored 11 runs, the most in a single inning all season for SNU, to leave the Rangers in a pretty deep hole out of the gate.
Mahina Sauer got it started with a single through the right side that scored
Natalie Jones to make it 1-0.
Sydney Sundbye's single scored Sauer and
Skye Ah Yat to push it to 3-0, before
Hailie Fellers doubled to left field which scored Sundbye and
Brooklyn Sparkman to blow it open at 5-0.
Sauer kept it going with a double that plated Jones and Fellers, before
Caitlyn Curlee's three-run homer to right center ballooned the advantage to 10-0. Jones' groundout to shortstop scored
Brooklyn Sullivan to cap off the monstrous Storm outburst at 11-0. The Crimson Storm furthered their lead in the top of the second when Sauer's RBI single scored Fellers.
Northwestern finally got on the board in the bottom of the third with a couple of runs to cut the SNU lead to 13-2. The Rangers offense carried over into the fourth as they plated five runs to trim the Storm lead to 13-7. SNU quickly erased any doubt as Sundbye reached on an error that scored Curlee and
Sydney Everhart to make it 15-7. Later in the inning, Sullivan's two-run homer extended it back to double-digits at 17-7. The Rangers scored three runs in the fifth before
Victoria Rodriguez singled to score Sundbye to make it 18-10. The SNU defense held strong in the bottom of the sixth as they completed the series sweep with their second run-rule of the weekend.
Sauer led the way at the dish in the night cap with a 3-for-4 finish with four RBI's and two runs scored. Sundbye went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI's and three runs scored while Sullivan finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI's and a homer. Curlee notched the game's other home run with a 2-for-5 finish with three RBI's and two runs scored. Fellers finished 1-for-3 with three RBI while Jones also went 1-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Rodriguez finished 1-for-4 with an RBI as well.
Southern Nazarene will return to action Tuesday afternoon for a single game against rival Oklahoma Baptist in Bethany. First pitch with the Bison at Cypert Athletic Complex is set for 4:00 p.m.
