Softball 2/17/2012 2:11:00 AM

OCU starts season 3-0 in Cowtown Classic

Third-ranked Stars face Southern Nazarene in 1 p.m. doubleheader Tuesday after rain Saturday

LeeAnn Lopez pounded two home runs Friday for the Stars.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Oklahoma City University opened softball season with three victories Friday in the Cowtown Classic.
The Stars, ranked third in the NAIA, posted a 4-1 season-opening win over Northwood (Texas). Then OCU edged Baker (Kan.) 3-2 in eight innings and stomped University of the Southwest (N.M.) 17-0.
Against Northwood, LeeAnn Lopez socked a two-run home run in the third inning for the final margin. Tori Joyner, a junior from Mustang, Okla., went 2-for-4 and scored a run, while Lopez, a junior from Grand Prairie, Texas, went 1-for-4.
Lily LaVelle, a senior from Bridge Creek, Okla., captured the win. LaVelle struck out eight and walked one in 5.1 hitless innings.
Against Baker, the Stars struck twice for runs in the top of the eighth to take the win. Joyner stole third base and scored on Haley Anderson's sacrifice fly. LaVelle doubled, then scored on Kylee Rounsaville's RBI single.
LaVelle picked up the win while fanning 18. LaVelle surpassed the 17 strikeouts she notched at Central Baptist (Ark.) on March 4, 2011.
In the final game of the day, OCU cranked three homers. Magean De La Torre, a junior from Plano, Texas, sparked an eight-run second inning by nailing a three-run blast in the inning.
Lopez swatted a two-run shot in the third, and Anderson hit a solo homer in the fourth.
De La Torre finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Joyner and Lopez each went 3-for-4 as well. Anderson was 2-for-5.
Danielle Fox, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla., worked the final three innings and struck out four for the victory. A.J. Woodward had three strikeouts in the first two innings.
The Cowtown Classic was rained out Saturday. OCU meets Southern Nazarene in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Tuesday in Bethany, Okla.
OCU-Northwood Boxscore
OCU-Baker Boxscore
OCU-USW Boxscore

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