ADA, Okla.—Southern Nazarene snatched two more wins over East Central on Saturday to earn their second consecutive Great American Conference sweep. The sweep was capped off by an incredible no-hit performance in the circle by Jennifer Romero-Ivarson.
Game 1:
It took a full team comeback effort in game one of the doubleheader to earn a win. The Crimson Storm found themselves trailing 3-0 after a first-inning home run from East Central. The Tigers would not score again, though, as the Storm shut them down and methodically chipped away the deficit before finally grabbing the lead for good in the seventh inning.
SNU was held scoreless through four innings, but they finally broke through in the fifth inning with another Anna Icenhower home-run, this one a two-run shot that trimmed the deficit to just 3-2. The home run was Icenhower's fifth in her last 8 games played.
After a scoreless sixth inning, SNU then found themselves down to their final three outs, but were never phased. Emma Swearingen led the inning off with a single. Noa Dodson then came into pinch run. She promptly scored on the next at-bat after Hailie Fellers laced a game-tying double to right-center field. Fellers later scored the go-ahead run on a Brooklyn Sullivan sacrifice-fly. The Storm added one more insurance run in the inning to make it 5-3. Hannah Sattler then worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
Sattler was phenomenal in relief. She gave up just 1 hit over 3.1 innings pitched and struck out 4 batters. The Tiger's final hit of the day was a one out single in the fifth inning. They never recorded another hit as Jennifer Romero-Ivarson pitched a masterpiece and earned Southern Nazarene's second ever no-hitter in game two.
Game 2:
Six years ago, SNU had their first no-hitter from Katelyn Brown, a five-hitter no hitter against Southwest Baptist. Jennifer Romero-Ivarson made it two no-hitters in school history on Saturday as she pitched six innings, allowing just one base runner on a walk.
East Central simply could not figure Romero-Ivarson out. She threw just 65 pitches on her way to the no-hitter. She also struck out four batters.
While Romero-Ivarson rightfully earned the attention in this one, you cannot forget about the offensive execution that led to a 10-0 run-rule victory. The Crimson Storm banged out 13 hits, five of which went for extra bases, in the game.
The scoring got started quickly for Southern Nazarene as Hailey Evans blasted a first inning two-run shot over the left-center field wall. The first inning cushion seemed to give Romero-Ivarson plenty of comfort in the circle from that point forward.
The Storm then added three runs in the fourth, one run in the fifth, and a big four run spot in the sixth inning as they broke the game wide open. The biggest blow was another two-run home run, this time off the bat of Hailie Fellers, that pushed SNU to the brink of a win as they opened up an 8-0 sixth inning lead over the Tigers. The Storm then added two more runs in the inning to ensure victory in the bottom half of the inning.
The extra runs proved to be unnecessary, though, as Romero-Ivarson worked another perfect sixth inning and celebrated with her teammates after Brooklyn Sullivan's strike to first base recorded the final out of the game.
Hannah Morales was also sensational at the plate, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish. Liana Heshiki led the team with 3 RBIs after roping a pair of doubles.
The win marks four straight series victories for the Crimson Storm as they continue climbing the GAC standings. They have moved all the way up into third place in the GAC standings after having started the season just 1-4 in GAC play. SNU is now 16-8 in the conference, and 19-19 overall. They are .500 for the first time this season, finally overcoming an extremely difficult opening part of the schedule.
SNU will return to non conference play next time out as they travel north to Wichita to take on Newman in a midweek double-header. The Storm are 6-3 all-time against Newman. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. in Wichita.
