OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City University edged Benedictine (Kan.) 2-1 and 1-0 on Tuesday at Ann Lacy Stadium.
Oklahoma City coach Phil McSpadden sits one victory away from tying Mike Candrea for the most victories of any college softball coach. The Stars, top-ranked in the NAIA, moved to 15-5 on the year.
McSpadden's head-coaching record stands at 1,858-404 (.821 winning percentage) in his 36th year at OCU. McSpadden guided Oklahoma City to its 11th national championship last year. Candrea has a mark of 1,859-505-2 in his 40-year career at Arizona and Central Arizona. Candrea completed his remarkable career, which included eight NCAA titles and two NJCAA crowns, in 2021.
The Stars take on Mid-America Christian in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on the road at Allen Field in Oklahoma City.
In the first game Tuesday, Kamryn Garvie drove in the winning run on a run-scoring single that bounced through the middle of the infield in the bottom of the sixth. Tiffany Paul reached home plate on the play. Paul led off the inning by crushing a double off the right-field wall.
Rally Radacy scored the first run of the day by stealing third base, then reaching home when catcher Madison Zaccardo threw the ball off Radacy. OCU led 1-0 in the first inning. Kera Willoughby tied the game with a home run in the fifth.
Shelbey Cornelson struck out seven in a complete-game effort. Cornelson, a senior exercise science major from Tuttle, Okla., improved to 8-2 in 2023. Cornelson retired the first seven Benedictine batters she faced.
Paul, a sophomore from Choctaw, Okla., majoring in mathematics, had a 1-for-2 showing with a run scored, while Garvie, a junior from Edmond, Okla., majoring in university studies, went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Radacy, a sophomore from Lookeba, Okla., studying exercise science, turned in a 1-for-3 performance and scored a run.
In the second game, Radacy brought in the only run of the game with an RBI base hit to center field. Carlee Mollet preceded Radacy's single by hustling for a double off a hit to shallow left field, then reached home plate on the next play.
Lexi Duff put together her first complete-game shutout of the year. Duff, a senior biomedical sciences major from Lone Grove, Okla., blanked Benedictine on five hits and three walks while striking out three. Duff (6-2) worked out of a bases-loaded situation by getting Clare Heitz to fly out to finish the top of the third. The Stars turned a double play in the fifth when Paul caught a pop fly then doubled Megan Medhus off second base.
Mollet, a sophomore from Ripley, Okla., majoring in psychology, went 2-for-2 and scored a run. Analise Rayburn, a freshman business administration major from Yukon, Okla., was 1-for-2.
