ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Southern Nazarene moved back over .500 on the year after a Saturday sweep of Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon. The Crimson Storm were dominant in the circle as they allowed just 1 run and 4 total hits across the two games. They are now 24-23 for the season, and 13-15 in Great American Conference play.
Game 1:
The Crimson Storm bats erupted for 7 runs on 14 hits in game one. They coupled that with a dominant pitching performance that allowed just 1 run on one hit for a 7-1 victory to open the series.
SNU quickly opened the game with a run in the top half of the first inning. Sydney Sundbye led off the game with a single. She promptly stole second base, advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and scored on Emma Swearingen's RBI single. From there, no runs were scored by either side until the fifth inning.
Ouachita's lone hit came as a leadoff double in the third inning. Olivia Hernandez quickly thwarted that threat by striking out the next two batters and forcing a popup to end the inning.
SNU got back into the scoring column in the fifth inning when Hailey Evans doubled home both Liana Heshiki and Natalie Jones. In the sixth inning, Heshiki doubled home Taryn Martin, giving the Crimson Storm a 4-0 advantage.
The Tigers finally crossed the plate in the sixth inning, but did so without recording a hit. Back-to-back walks, followed by a hit-by-pitch, allowed Ouachita to scratch across a run on an RBI groundout. That was all they could muster, though, leaving the game 4-1 heading into the seventh inning.
Southern Nazarene broke the game open with a three-spot in the seventh. Evans notched her third RBI of the game when she blasted her 11th home run of the season to leadoff the inning. Brooklyn Sullivan later connected on her own homerun, a two-run shot that pushed SNU's lead to 7-1.
Relief pitcher Janie Worthington slammed the door 1-2-3 in the seventh inning with a flyout and a pair of strikeouts.
Olivia Hernandez collected her ninth win of the season in the circle. She pitched five innings, while striking out 6 Tiger hitters. Janie Worthington pitched two innings in relief and collected 3 strikeouts.
Liana Heshiki and Hailey Evans each collected 3 hits in the game.
Game 2:
The SNU pitching was once again dominant in game two as Katelyn Woodard and Janie Worthington combined for a three-hit shutout.
Once again SNU's offense started hot with a run in the first inning. Sydney Sundbye again led the game off with a single and advanced to second when Heshiki was walked. Sundbye then stole third and forced an errant throw into left field, allowing Sundbye to make her way home for the game's first run.
Southern Nazarene pushed the lead to 2-0 in the third inning after Heshiki drew another walk to leadoff the inning. Noa Dodson would pinch run for Heshiki, a move that paid off as Dodson stole both second and third base and then scored on Emma Swearingen's RBI groundout.
The Crimson Storm tacked on more insurance in the fifth and seventh innings. Hannah Morales hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to score Swearingen, and Natalie Jones hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to score Sundbye and bring the score to its final resting place at 4-0.
Katelyn Woodard pitched five innings, allowing just one hit and earning her sixth win of the season. Janie Worthington once again pitched the final two innings, striking out two more Ouachita batters.
Liana Heshiki reached base all four times at the plate with a pair of hits and a pair of walks. Sydney Sundbye also recorded two hits and scored a pair of runs.
The Crimson Storm and Ouachita Baptist will close out the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. With a win, SNU has an opportunity to clinch a spot in the GAC Championship tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas May 3-7.
