BETHANY, Okla. — Southern Nazarene suited up for another weekday contest, traveling to Weatherford, Oklahoma to face Southwestern Oklahoma State University for the fourth time this season.
The Crimson Storm (14-25, 6-19 GAC) caught fire early, building an 8-2 lead through the first two innings. The Bulldogs (20-19, 12-13 GAC) quickly shut their momentum down, keeping SNU scoreless while exploding for 14 unanswered runs. Both squads lit it up on the offensive end, each recording 14 hits in the game, but SNU's four errors made it difficult to keep SWOSU at bay.
The Storm were quick to open the scoring when Dax Edmonds singled up the middle to send Cole Embrey home. One of the GAC's most feared batters, DJ Van Atten, made some noise in the next at-bat, firing a two-run homer to put SNU ahead 3-0.
The Bulldogs wasted no time waking up their offense, getting two runs in in the first to trail SNU 3-2.
SNU grew their lead in the second, starting with Edmonds' fly-out that sent Drake Irby home. Van Atten continued his hot hitting with a single down the left field line that pushed Embrey to third. Weston Hicks capped off the offensive gains with a three RBI blast to to left center, awarding the Storm with a 7-2 advantage .
Tanner Bare took advantage of a SWOSU throwing error and advanced Colby Entwistle home, pushing his team to an 8-2 lead.
The Bulldogs closed the gap in the third with a walk and two singles, good for five runs.
Scoring stalled through the next inning and a half until the Bulldogs tied the ballgame in the bottom fifth with a single to advance one of their members on third. SWOSU saw their first lead of the game in the next at-bat off of a fielder's choice, leading SNU by one at 9-8.
The Bulldogs' lead rocketed to 12-8 off a three-RBI home run to left field, making that 10 unanswered runs through four innings of play. SWOSU did not stop there, putting up two back-to-back doubles and a single in the sixth to bump their lead to 16-8.
The score remained 16-8 thought the eighth inning and SNU was left the final chance to turn things around. Hicks gave SNU some life with a single that sent Edmonds home. Working with two outs, Colby Entwistle and Tyler Broyles put up back-to-back singles, loading the bases for the Storm. SNU's fate was determined from a strike out at the plate, losing to the Bulldogs 16-9.
Southern Nazarene will head to Arkansas for a weekend series with Henderson State beginning Friday, April 14th for a single game at 6 p.m. SNU will follow with a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The Reddies currently sit fourth in the conference with a 13-11 GAC record.
