Softball 3/29/2012 10:08:00 PM

OCU upends top-ranked Lubbock Christian 8-6, 18-12

LaVelle propels fourth-ranked Stars with two victories

LeeAnn Lopez swatted four home runs Thursday to bring her season total to a team-high 17.

LUBBOCK, Texas – Oklahoma City University toppled No. 1-ranked Lubbock Christian (Texas) 8-6, 18-12 on Thursday at PlainsCapital Ballpark in a clash of top five-ranked NAIA softball teams.
LeeAnn Lopez cranked four home runs, while Lily LaVelle won both ends of the twin bill for OCU. The fourth-ranked Stars (32-2, 9-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) ran their winning streak to 17. Lubbock Christian fell to 29-4, 4-2 in the SAC.
In the second game, OCU prevailed in a slugfest that featured 37 hits and seven homers. The Stars posted six first-inning runs and four runs in the top of the seventh.
OCU took advantage of four first-inning errors and eight in the game. LaVelle scored the first run from third base after Angela Lovelady bunted into a misplay by pitcher Meagan Navarette (8-1). OCU's first two runs were off errors.
Magean De La Torre and Jamie Rateliff added RBI singles before Kylee Rounsaville pounded a two-run blast over the left-field wall for the Stars.
Lubbock Christian answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning before OCU scored five times in the second. Lopez and Lovelady belted consecutive homers to spark the Stars. Danielle Fox hammered her third homer in four games with a three-run shot to right-center field.
Melissa Hartkop's RBI base hit cut OCU's lead to 14-11 in the fifth.
In the seventh, Lopez drove in two runs with a single to right, but LaVelle also scored after right fielder Andrea Argee's fielding miscue. Lovelady knocked in Lopez with a base hit to left.
LaVelle, a senior from Bridge Creek, Okla., pitched the last six innings and struck out six. LaVelle improved to 23-1 on the year.
Fox, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla., was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs, and Rateliff, a freshman from Mustang, Okla., went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a run brought in for OCU.
Lopez, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, went 2-for-6, scored three times and drove in three runs, while De La Torre, a junior from Plano, Texas, went 2-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBIs. LaVelle was 2-for-5 and scored three runs, and Rounsville, a sophomore from Yukon, Okla., went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
In the first game, LaVelle and Lopez cranked back-to-back homers to fuel the win.
The Stars plated four runs in the top of the seventh to pull out the victory. Tori Joyner socked a two-out RBI double along the left-field foul line to score the first of those runs. LaVelle brought home Joyner on a two-run blast to center. Lopez nailed her third homer of the game – a solo shot to left.
In the fifth, LaVelle provided OCU a 4-3 lead by nailing a run-scoring double to right. Lopez staked OCU to a 3-0 lead in the third by crushing a two-run homer to left. Lopez homered in the first to give the Stars the early 1-0 edge.
Lopez went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs, while LaVelle went 2-for-4 with three runs driven in. Fox was 2-for-3 and scored a run.
LaVelle picked up the win after striking out eight in seven innings. Hartkop was saddled with her first loss of the year as she dipped to 9-1.
OCU faces St. Gregory's in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday in Shawnee, Okla.
Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

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