WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU and Harding traded home runs in the ninth inning of the series finale on Sunday, but the Lady Bisons had two runners on while the Bulldogs hit a solo shot, which allowed Harding to complete the series sweep with a 13-11 victory at the Athletic Complex in Weatherford.
Harding scored four runs in both the first and third innings, which put the Lady Bisons up 8-1 in what appeared to be headed for a runaway victory for the visitors. SWOSU, however, had other plans and began an extended comeback with a two-run home run by
Hannah Franklin in the third inning.
Jewell Lee added a two-run double in the fourth and got SWOSU within three at 8-5.
In the fifth, Harding added back-to-back RBI hits to extend their advantage to 10-5, but the next five runs were scored by the Dawgs.
Keanni Barron and
Kenedi Morelock had RBI singles in the fifth to make it 10-7, which was where the score remained heading to the bottom of the seventh. Barron again stepped up with an RBI double and she then scored on an RBI groundout from
Jordan Collins that brought SWOSU within one. Lee then came through in the clutch with a two-out RBI double, scoring Morelock from second for the game-tying run.
In the first extra inning,
Miranda Grover worked around two hits by the Lady Bisons and got a groundout to end a threat with two runners in scoring position, but the Bulldogs went down in order in the bottom half of the inning to send it to the ninth. A fielding error with one out in the ninth allowed Harding to get two runners on for Hanna Jones, who capitalized with a three-run shot to left center that put the Lady Bisons up 13-10. SWOSU would get one run back in the bottom half with a solo homer by Barron, but Harding recorded the final out with two Bulldog runners on base.
SWOSU had a season-high 17 hits in the game, getting four apiece from Lee and Barron and two each from Franklin,
Dani Carmo,
Dustie Pence and Morelock.
Alisa Friesen got the start and was chased in the third after allowing eight runs – four earned – on six hits and four walks.
Miranda Grover (5-13) held things down while the Bulldogs tied the game, but she was tagged with three unearned runs in the ninth inning and suffered the defeat.
SWOSU Softball falls to 9-23 on the year and 9-18 in Great American Conference play with two series remaining. The Bulldogs are on the road next weekend to face Arkansas-Monticello before closing out the regular season at home against Southern Arkansas.
