CANYON, Texas – SWOSU Softball opened the 2018 season on Friday afternoon at the West Texas A&M Invitational, but started the season 0-3 with two defeats against Western Oregon and one to No. 13-ranked tournament host West Texas A&M.
Due to the weather in Canyon, SWOSU (0-3) will not playing any games on Saturday and tournament officials will make a decision on the status of Sunday's games at some point tomorrow.
Western Oregon 5, SWOSU 3
Box Score
After falling behind 3-0, the Bulldogs got going offensively with one run in each of the final three innings, but two runs by Western Oregon in the bottom of the fifth proved to be the difference in the season opener.
SWOSU had just one hit over the first four innings, but then strung together nine hits in the final three frames while scoring a run in each.
Allyson Gafford singled and scored on an RBI single from
Hannah Morris in the fifth to get SWOSU on the board before
Amanda Moreno hit an RBI double in the sixth to score
Kennedy Stewart. Morris singled and scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh for SWOSU's final run.
Rileigh Ricken (0-1) pitched a complete game but took the loss after allowing eight hits and five runs over 6.0 innings of action in the circle.
#13 West Texas A&M 11, SWOSU 3 (5 inn.)
Box Score
The high-octane offense of West Texas A&M pounded out 13 hits – including two home runs – as they handed SWOSU their second defeat of the day by a five-inning run rule.
WT scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first, but SWOSU answered with two runs in the top of the second to cut the deficit to 3-2. In the second,
Kinsey Skroh had an infield single that scored
Hannah Franklin and
Rileigh Ricken hit a sacrifice fly to right that plated
Amanda Moreno from third. The Lady Buffs quickly responded with five runs in the second inning courtesy of two home runs before adding three runs on four hits in the third to put the game out of reach. Moreno scored an unearned run in the fourth courtesy of a WT error to provide the final run of the game.
Miranda Grover (0-1) was chased after just 2.0 innings and she suffered the defeat after allowing 10 runs on 10 hits with two walks.
Western Oregon 15, SWOSU 7 (6 inn.)
Box Score
SWOSU took the lead in the fourth inning with back-to-back home runs from
Samantha Householder and
Sidney Kirk, but Western Oregon responded with nine runs over the next two innings to pull away for the victory.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first after
Bella Garcia led off the bottom of the first with a triple before scoring three batters later on an infield single from
Sidney Kirk. After Western Oregon scored four runs in the second, SWOSU again had an answer with an RBI single from Garcia and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Householder to get back within one run.
Neither team scored in the third frame, but both did in the fourth as WOU extended their lead to 6-3 before Householder drilled a three-run homer to center field to tie the game and Kirk blasted a dinger out to left to put SWOSU on top 7-6. Western Oregon responded with two runs in the fifth before exploding for seven runs on five hits in the top of the sixth to invoke the run rule after six innings of play.
Garcia, Kirk and
Keanni Barron had two hits apiece, with Barron also scoring twice while Householder led the way with four RBI. Kirk (0-1) pitched the first 5.1 innings for SWOSU and took the loss after allowing 12 runs on 15 hits with three strikeouts.
