EDMOND, Okla.—Southern Nazarene dropped a pair of games on Sunday afternoon at the Edmond Regional Festival, falling 5-4 in extra innings to Missouri Southern before falling 6-3 to No. 15 Oklahoma Christian.
Game 1:
The Crimson Storm appeared to be in control of the first game of the day, grabbing a 4-0 lead in the first couple of innings. That would be the end of the scoring for SNU, though, as Missouri Southern came back to tie the game and eventually win it in extra innings.
SNU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after roping three straight doubles off the bat of London Lewis, Anna Icenhower, and Natalie Jones. They added two more the following inning after Hailie Fellers led the inning off with a walk. Hannah Morales would quickly bring her around to score with a double to right-center. She later came around to score on a Sydney Everhart sacrifice fly that brought the score to 4-0.
The Storm never crossed the plate again, though, as Missouri Southern chipped away at the lead and eventually earned the extra innings win. They got one run back in the fourth, but it was a huge sixth inning that changed the game. They plated three runs to tie the game and eventually force extra innings.
SNU struggled to get much going in extra innings. They notched a couple of hits in the eighth, but a popout quickly thwarted that threat, and then went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning. The Storm then found themselves in a difficult situation in the field as Missouri Southern loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. Southern Nazarene nearly got out of the jam with back-to-back outs at the plate, but one final two-out single gave Missouri Southern the walkoff win.
Liana Heshiki, Natalie Jones, and Hannah Morales each notched multiple hits, including an extra base hit in the game. Heshiki tripled, while Morales and Jones roped doubles.
Game 2:
Game two saw the Crimson Storm put up a fight against nationally ranked No. 15 Oklahoma Christian, but again a lead slipped away from the Storm as Oklahoma Christian took the game 6-3.
SNU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third inning, but the Eagles showed why they are regarded so highly. They were never rattled and quickly responded with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning to grab a 4-3 advantage.
That score remained intact until the bottom of the sixth when Oklahoma Christian added two more runs to create a cushion. SNU was then retired in order in the top half of the sixth to bring an end to the game.
Caitlyn Curlee (Bates) was the lone Crimson Storm member with multiple hits in the game as she finished 2-for-4. Hannah Morales finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and a stolen base.
It has been a tough start for the Crimson Storm as they have faced some fierce competition in the first couple of weekends of play. SNU will finally get their opportunity to play on their home field next weekend as the Storm host weekend festival number three. Southern Nazarene will take on Chadron State and Lubbock Christian on Friday before a Saturday meeting with Nebraska-Kearney. SNU then rounds out the festival on Sunday with matchups against Northeastern State and Cameron.
