Johnson has 6 hits, home run in doubleheader split against Oklahoma Baptist
March 1, 2019
ALVA, Okla. – Northwestern Oklahoma State University softball concluded the first conference series of the season Monday afternoon with a doubleheader split at Oklahoma Baptist, which split the four-game series as a whole at two games apiece.
Northwestern jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first game and held off the Lady Bison in a 7-5 victory. However, OBU put up 10 runs to open the second game of the afternoon on their way to a 15-3 outcome over Northwestern in five innings.
The Rangers are 2-6 this season and 2-2 in Great American Conference play. It is the first time since 2014 the Rangers have opened the conference slate with two wins in the first series. Northwestern will now travel to Southern Arkansas Friday for a double-game set against the Muleriders in Arkadelphia.
Freshman second baseman Kalie Johnson had a massive day for the Rangers with six hits, including a home run and a double, in the doubleheader with an RBI and two runs scored. Madison Friest was solid at the plate with two doubles on the afternoon and Jada Overby added a home run in the seventh inning of game one.
Game 1
Hits were a premium in the afternoon’s first game as the tilt was scoreless until the top of the fourth inning. Friest led the inning off with a double and eventually scored when Caden Cunningham ripped a single to make it 1-0 Rangers.
Madeline McIntyre came in to run prior to Cunningham’s at bat. She later crossed the plate on the fourth Ranger hit of the inning off the bat of Lindsey McElroy, followed by a Morgan Kirk double two batters later that plated Cunningham.
The Rangers continued to send batters to plate as the inning moved along. Morgan La Neve singled in a runner and Friest picked up her second hit of the inning with a single to plate Johnson to make it 6-0.
Four of the six runs in the fourth inning for the Rangers came with two outs.
The Bison cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning with four runs, including a bases clearing double with runners on each base, and added a fifth run in the home half of the sixth.
The final dagger in the game came in the top of seventh when Jada Overby went yard to bring the final score to 7-5.
Allison Wells earned the victory in the circle in four innings of work. After a couple good innings from Ariel Forsyth, Kathryn Wells pitched a perfect seventh inning for her first career save.
Game 2
Unlike the slow offensive start in the first game, the Bison jumped out with a 10 spot in the bottom of the first, including two grand slams.
Northwestern did its best to try to get into the lead in the second inning with McElroy reaching on a double that scored Overby. In the third inning, the Rangers got another run as Johnson sent a pitch over the fence for her first career home run to make it 10-2.
However, the Lady Bison stifled any momentum the Rangers tried to muster with runs in the third and a run in the fourth. Northwestern added a final run in the top of the fifth with Kirk crossing the plate on a double play.
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