CHICKASHA, Okla. – No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City University prevailed 10-2 over Columbia (Mo.) on Saturday at the Chickasha Sports Complex in a matchup of top five-ranked teams in NAIA softball.
The Stars also routed Bellevue (Neb.) 11-1 and Mount Marty (S.D.) 19-4. Oklahoma City boasts of an 11-0 record.
Shelby Riggs led OCU past fourth-ranked Columbia with three hits and four RBIs. Columbia finished as national runner-up last season.
Riggs, a redshirt freshman from Binger, Okla., started OCU's scoring with a second-inning home run. Riggs nailed a two-run double in the fourth to put OCU on top 7-0, then hit an RBI single to give the Stars a 10-0 fifth-inning advantage.
Riggs scored twice and went 3-for-4. Kennedy Jackson, a sophomore from Moore, Okla., was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Julianne Abeloe, a senior from Santa Paula, Calif., turned in a 2-for-3 outing with an RBI.
Kylie Dodson became the winning pitcher. Dodson, a freshman from Mustang, Okla., struck out three in five innings. She went to 5-0 on the year.
Against Bellevue, Jackson smacked a two-run double, while Bailey Whitmore crushed a bases-clearing double with the bases loaded to spark a six-run fifth inning.
Morgan McCallum and Jaci Smith each had run-scoring doubles in the fourth. McCallum, a junior from Mesquite, Texas, had a 3-for-4 game with two runs scored and a run driven in.
Gabby Zucchiatti, a junior from Millbrae, Calif., was 2-for-3 with two runs brought home, and Baileigh Loux, a sophomore from Reno, Nev., went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Abeloe and Whitmore, a senior from Oklahoma City, each went 2-for-4.
Jaden Shores picked up five strikeouts in five innings. Shores, a junior from Blanchard, Okla., collected her fifth victory this year.
Against Mount Marty, Riggs pounded a two-run double to spark an eight-run inning. Zucchatti added a two-run double as well.
McCallum had a 4-for-5 game with three runs scored and three runs knocked in, while Zucchiatti was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Jackson was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs, and Riggs and Whitmore each drove in two runs.
Shores fanned six and notched her sixth win.
OCU meets Tabor (Kan.) at 1 p.m., then McPherson (Kan.) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Chickasha, Okla.