by Kolton Fishback, Student Reporter
Northwestern could not claim a win against Oklahoma Baptist during the weekend series to start conference play.
The Rangers dropped all four games with scores of 10-5, 11-0, 11-4 and 10-8.
Game 1
Freshman Hannah Howell got the start for the Rangers. She held the Bison to zero runs throughout the first three innings.
Sophomore Kalie Johnson led the offense for Northwestern going 3-for-7 with two RBI’s. Morgan La Neve went 1-for-4 with two RBI’s and tallied her second homerun on the season. Abby Detar had two hits on the day.
The Bison took a commanding 9-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning scoring nine runs on seven hits and one error by the Rangers.
Game 2
Oklahoma Baptist started the second game of the series with five runs on five hits and one error by the Rangers. They tacked on four more runs in the top of the second inning.
Northwestern had no answers throughout the game with only three hits on the day. The hits were in courtesy from Zanca, Johnson and Bushey.
OBU added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, which led to the mercy rule.
Game 3
Sophomore Ariel Forsyth got the start for the Rangers on the mound in game three.
The team responded in games three and four with eight hits in each match. Joey Casey led the team with four hits on six at-bats, along with two runs and one RBI. Mesa Gann went 2-for-7 with three RBI’s and one run.
Johnson had a great game, as she went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI. Lindsey McElroy added two hits, two RBI’s and one run. Jayden Flowers, Morgan La Neve and Alexus Bailey each had one hit during the match.
Oklahoma Baptist took the early lead with a two-run homerun. The Rangers answered with back-to-back doubles from Bailey and Gann.
The Bison added four runs in the top of the fifth inning with a single, an RBI double and a two-run homerun.
Northwestern added three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. However, they could not gain any momentum after a single from Johnson and took the loss 11-4.
Game 4
Oklahoma Baptist took the early lead with four runs on three hits.
Northwestern gained some momentum after a leadoff walk followed by a bunt and four hits gave the Rangers a 6-4 lead.
The Bison answered with a leadoff homerun along with four runs on three hits to take a 9-6 advantage.
Johnson had a single in the bottom of the third inning and McElroy followed with a RBI double into the left-center gap to make the game 9-7.
Jayden Solberg started the inning with a walk and Shelbie Roberson came in to pinch run who later scored after a sacrifice RBI.
The Rangers competed to the end, but fell short in the last match 10-8.