By OAKLEE FIELDER
Sports Editor
This past weekend, NWOSU’s softball team had their conference and home opener. They played a three-game series against the Arkansas Tech University Golden Suns.
NWOSU 12-ATU 5
The first game was on Saturday the 22. It started with two runs for the Golden Suns.
In the bottom of the first, Kaitlyn Corn hit a homerun to send her and Macy Spearman home and tie the game 2-2 heading into the second inning.
The second and third inning were both scoreless for both teams, staying 2-2 headed into the top of the fourth.
In the fourth inning, Arkansas Tech was able to get a run against the Lady Rangers to take the lead by one. The Lady Rangers were not able get any runs in the bottom of the inning.
In the fifth inning, the Golden Suns were able to get two more runs to increase their lead and make it 2-5 game. In the bottom of the fifth, Kennedi Caine was hit by a pitch, Corn was then walked, Rachel Sherwood was also hit by a pitch, and Kirby Van Haren was walked all with the bases loaded. Rosemary Rivera hit a single down the left field line to send Sherwood and Ashley Low home to make it an 8-4 ballgame for the Lady Rangers.
Arkansas Tech went scoreless in the top of the sixth. Van Haren hit a single to center field and sent Corn home. Rivera also hit a single, sending Van Haren and Avery Clark home to extend the Lady Rangers’ lead to seven. The Lady Rangers won their home opener 12-5.
NWOSU 11-ATU 15
The second game was on Saturday the 22. In the top of the first, the Golden Suns had seven RBI’s, four of them being a grand slam home run. The Lady Rangers responded with a sacrifice out form Sherwood sending Spearman home. Clark hit a single that send Caine home to shrink the Golden Suns’ lead.
In the top of the second, Arkansas Tech scored six runs to make their lead eleven over the Lady Rangers. NWOSU did not score in the bottom of the second.
The Lady Rangers had a lot of work to do if they were going to come back in this game.
In the third, Van Haren hit a double to center field and send Clark and Sherwood running home.
In the fourth, Spearman hit a double to right center field, and Rivera made it home to make the difference eight. In the fifth, Clark made it to first on a bunt and an error from the Golden Suns, which allowed Low to go home. Makenalei Lapera hit a double to right field and sent Rivera and Jadyn Muns home to make the game 13-8.
In the sixth, Clark hit a single to left center field which allowed Corn and Caine to go home and make it a three-run game. Muns hit a double to left field and sent Kacie Graves home.
Unfortunately, that was all the Lady Rangers had in them. They were not able to complete the huge comeback in game two against the Golden Suns and lost 13-11.
NWOSU 1-ATU 3
The third game was on Sunday the 23. The third game of the series was a slow, low scoring game compared to the previous two. The Golden Suns opened the game with a run in the top of the first.
The second inning was scoreless, Arkansas Tech leaving two on base.
In the third, Arkansas Tech hit another run to extend their lead. The fourth inning was scoreless, NWOSU leaving one on base. In the fifth, the Golden Suns extended their lead with another run with a sacrifice fly.
The sixth inning was scoreless. In the seventh, Sherwood hit a single to the middle and sent Devynn Raile home to score the Lady Rangers’ first point of the game. The Lady Rangers had nothing left and lost the game 1-3. The softball team was scheduled for a game against Newman University on the 25, but it was postponed. They will play against ECU this coming Friday and Saturday in a triple header against the Tigers.