ALVA, Okla.—Southern Nazarene snapped a four-game losing skid with an 8-5 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State in the series opener.
After combining for just five runs in their previous three games, Southern Nazarene (10-11, 2-6 GAC) broke out the bats in a big way to open the ballgame. They plated five runs through the first two innings to quickly build a 5-0 lead over Northwestern (4-18, 1-6 GAC).
SNU broke through on the scoreboard when Hailey Evans singled home Liana Heshiki. Evans was sensational at the dish all game. The Rangers could not get her out as she finished 4-for-4 with a double and 3 RBIs.
The Crimson Storm added one more in the first inning after a Northwestern error. The offense continued to click in the second inning as they added three more runs, two of which came on another Evans single. Emma Swearingen then followed with her own RBI single to push the Storm in front 5-0.
Back-to-back home runs from Northwestern brought them back within two runs in the third inning. The scoring slowed from there as neither side crossed the plate again until the sixth inning.
The Storm put up another three-spot in the sixth inning, which proved to be big after the Rangers added two of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Two of SNU's three runs in the inning came by way of a big fly off the bat of Natalie Jones. It was her third home run of the season. She hit five in 2022.
SNU added one more run in the sixth after another Northwestern error.
After the Rangers cut the deficit back to just three runs, Janie Worthington entered the game to record the final four outs and preserve the win for SNU.
The win pushes the Crimson Storm back to within one game of .500 for the season. They will try to move over .500 with a pair of wins tomorrow. The Storm meet Northwestern for a double-header to close out the series. The double-header is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. in Alva.
