Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers softball team continued its series against East Central Monday afternoon in their rescheduled Great American Conference match-up.

The Rangers had a combined 17 hits through the doubleheader with two returners leading the way. Sophomore Jada Overby continued her hitting barrage as she went 4-for-6 with one run and two hit-by-pitches. Senior Morgan Kirk also had a day at the plate going 4-for-6 as well with one run and one RBI.

Alexus Bailey, Lindsey McElroy and Jayden Flowers were the only other Rangers to tally two hits with Bailey hitting her third home run of the season. Kalie Johnson, Morgan La Neve, and Taylor Russell all had one hit each.

Johnson hit her first triple of her career while Russell sent a double to the fence.

Game 1

East Central took advantage of every opportunity they could as the Rangers out-hit the Tigers, nine to their seven. A solo home run started the scoring for East Central in the top of the first but were shut down by the Ranger defense to keep their lead 1-0.

The Rangers continued their pattern from yesterday as they loaded the bases early against the Tigers. Overby and Flowers earned back-to-back singles with a walk from Kirk, but the Black and Red could not manage to score.

Both teams were held scoreless through the second inning with defenses and pitching taking control.

The Tigers took advantage of two walks and a single in the top of third inning to add another run to their lead to make it 2-0 and continued their momentum by sitting the Rangers down in order in their half of the inning.

In a mirror image of the second inning, the fourth inning followed suit with the Ranger's shortstop Kirk taking all three outs in order. East Central's defense held their own with Kirk having the only hit of the inning.

East Central continued to push forward as they scored another run in the top of fifth inning taking advantage of one of the few errors from the Ranger defense to give them a 3-0 lead. Although the Rangers continued to battle loading the bases for the second time they could not get runs across.

The top of the sixth inning was when the Tigers shut the door on the Rangers adding two more runs on three hits with back-to-back doubles to give East Central their final runs, with a lead of 5-0.

The Rangers battled back in the bottom of the sixth inning as La Neve sent a pinch hit single into right center to score Russell (doubled) to give Northwestern their first run of the game to make the score 5-1.

The Black and Red continued to battle with back-to-back singles in the bottom of the seventh but were not able to get any more runs across. East Central took the win with a final score of 5-1 in seven innings.

Game 2

In Game 2 the Rangers continued to turn on their offense as Bailey sent a home run over the left field fence just staying fair to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Northwestern used the momentum of the early lead to hold East Central through the second inning.

In the top of the third inning Abbie Detar stepped up in the field as she gunned out a runner at third who tagged at second. The next Tiger sent a home run to tie the game at 1-1.

A defensive battle continued between both teams as they held the score to 1-1 through the top of the fifth inning as they ECU scored three runs on five hits to pull away from the Black and Red with a score of 4-1.

A short bottom half of the inning from the Rangers added to the Tiger's momentum as they plated three more runs on four hits with a three-run home run to give them a 7-1 lead.

However, Northwestern came storming back in the bottom of the sixth. Three straight singles from Overby, Kirk, and Flowers and a pitching change gave the Rangers a lot of momentum. Russell started the rally with an RBI ground-out to score Overby.

Desiree Malicoat

Northwestern freshman Jayden Flowers catches the ball at first base and gets the runner out. Northwestern lost their first game 1-5 against East Central and won their second game 8-7.

Pinch Hitter Ashlie Green loaded the bases again as she was hit by a pitch to open the door for McElroy who sent a shot to right center to score Kirk. A wide throw by the center fielder allowed McIntyre to score on the play as well as the NWOSU cut the lead 7-4.

Detar walked to load the bases for the third time to set the table for Johnson. Johnson sent a line drive down the right field line for a bases clearing triple, her first of her career to tie the game 7-7.

The Rangers weren't done yet as they batted around to give Kirk another opportunity, and she took advantage as she smoked a single, her second of the inning, to score another run to take the lead 8-7.

Alli Willis buckled down in the top of the seventh as she allowed only one hit and helped the Ranger's take the win in comeback style with a final score of 8-7 in seven innings.

Northwestern plays their last away series against Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla. this upcoming weekend. The first pitch is due to start on Thursday at 2 p.m.