Softball Team Splits With No. 3 OCU

In a battle of top five teams, both No. 5 USAO and No. 3 Oklahoma City could go away happy Tuesday, as the teams split a conference doubleheader at Bill Smith Ballpark. The Drovers took the first game 4-3 in extra innings, but the Stars came back with a 4-1 win in the nightcap.

With the split, USAO moves its record to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. This weekend, the Drovers are scheduled to make their second straight appearance in the Gulf Coast Invitational in Orange Beach, Ala. They are back home March 10 for a 2 p.m. conference doubleheader against Northwestern.

In the first game Tuesday, USAO scored a run in the bottom of the first, and OCU answered with two in the second for a 2-1 lead. The Drovers tied at 2-2 in the sixth, forcing the extra inning. OCU opened the eighth with a run, but USAO answered with two runs for the 4-3 win.

USAO freshman Tanna Truelove scored the Drovers’ run in the first on a passed ball, after reaching base on a single to left field. Sophomore Morgan Skelley belted her second home run of the season in the sixth inning to force a 2-2 tie.

Seniors Crystal Judkins and Stephanie Hey each had RBI singles to give the Drovers a 4-3 win. Junior Dana Askins, who was placed on second because of the international tiebreaker, scored on Judkins’ single, while Skelley crossed the plate on Hey’s single.

Judkins went 3-for-4 to lead USAO, and Truelove (2-for-4) added two hits and scored once. Skelley was 1-for-3 with the home run and scored twice. Others with hits were Askins, junior Nikki Aguilar, and Hey. Askins (4-3) allowed three runs on six hits for her third straight win. The left-hander struck out five and walked one in eight innings.

After three scoreless innings, Oklahoma City broke things open with two runs in the fourth and two in the sixth. USAO answered back with one run in the sixth – a two-out single by junior Amanda Cotton to score Truelove.

Truelove (1-for-3), Cotton (1-for-3) and Hey (1-for-2) had the Drovers’ only hits. Junior Kindra Gregory (4-2) allowed four runs on seven hits for her second loss. The right-hander struck out two in four innings. Askins allowed a hit in three innings of relief.