Article Date
April 30, 2005
Oklahoma Baptist split a pair of 8-0 games with Northwestern Oklahoma State Saturday, sending the race for the final Sooner Athletic Conference to the final day on Monday.
OBU, which must win three of four in the series with Northwestern, looked good in the opener as Amanda Zahara (15-13) blanked the Rangers on four hits while her offense put together 12 hits and scored eight times.
Ashley Howard hit a two-run home run in the first inning for a 2-0 lead. With two outs in the third Allison Ramzy scored from second on a dropped fly ball that would have been the third out of the inning. But OBU didn't stop there as Katy Thurber and Brooke Stevens scored that inning on a two-run single by Zahara.
OBU plated two more runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Melissa Martinez and a bases-loaded walk by Brett Swofford, who narrowly missed a grand slam with a foul ball over the left field fence.
Stevens doubled home the game-ending run in the bottom of the sixth.
OBU fell apart in the second game, committing four errors that lead to six unearned runs. Howard, 9-3, took the loss.
Northwestern's Jennifer Ortega (13-9) got her third shut out of the season, scattering six hits with three coming from Zahara.
OBU (25-20, 9-13) and Northwestern (27-25, 9-13) will play in Alva Monday. The Lady Bison must sweep the doubleheader to advance to the SAC Tournament.