April 22, 2008
Oklahoma Baptist and Northwestern split a couple of games that featured dramatic last innings. Northwestern won the opener 7-2 in eight innings and the Lady Bison took the second with a four-run seventh, 9-8.
OBU lost the opener in heartbreaking fashion in eight innings. Northwestern's Tanya Parker hit a grand slam to center field to give the Lady Rangers their first lead of the game. Heather Hokeah followed with a home run for the final margin.
The Lady Bison took a 1-0 lead in first inning after three two-out singles and a run-scoring error off the bat of Alyssa Henkes.
Northwestern tied it up in the sixth, but OBU scored in the bottom of the sixth when Bobbi Days sacrifice attempt was thrown into left field, allowing Jayme Boyer to score.
The Rangers tied it in the seventh on an error and won it in the eighth.
The Lady Bison had eight hits in the game, including two each by Jami Pate and Kaley Dickerson.
The second game also started well for OBU, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by Henkes. Northwestern tied it in the third but the Lady Bison took a 4-1 lead in the third with an RBI double by Brittney Day and a two-run single by Brooke Stevens.
Northwestern tied the game in the top of the fifth, but made a costly error to give the lead back to OBU in the fifth.
The Rangers scored three in the sixth and added another in the top of the seventh for an 8-5 lead, setting up the dramatic finish.
Pate ripped a triple down the right field line to start the inning and Brittney Day was hit by a pitch. Northwestern opted to intentionally walk Boyer to load the bases with no outs.
Dickerson singled through the left side for an RBI to make it 8-6 and Brooke Stevens grounded out to second to move the runners up, gaining an RBI in the process. Then, with two outs, Henkes came to the plate.
Henkes having doubled earlier in the game, Northwestern gave some room to the OBU slapper, but this time she flared one just out of the reach of the left fielder as two runs came home.
Henkes had three hits and three RBI to pace the 12-hit attack for the Lady Bison while Pate, Boyer, Dickerson and Stevens had two hits each.
Sonya Beach got the win in relief as OBU improved to 20-30 overall. The Lady Bison play at St. Gregory's Thursday.