OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City softball team earned a sweep in the conference opening series over Central Christian as the Stars outscored the Tigers 43-2 in the four-game set.
Oklahoma City 8, Central Christian 0
W: Emersen Heron (4-0)
L: Kayla Voss (1-1)
Key Leaders
- Kaitlyn Jones - 2-3, 2 R, RBI, SB
- Emersen Heron – 2-2, 2B, R / W, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
- Rally Radacy – 1-2, 2 RBIs, R
HOW IT HAPPENED
Oklahoma City (11-0) scored its eight runs across the first three innings as Kaitlyn Jones got the inning started with a base hit before stealing second base. Rally Radacy laid down a bunt where Jones made it all the way home on the sacrifice play.
OCU saw its biggest inning of the game coming in the second where the Stars gave up five runs on six hits with Iliana Ashford driving in a run before Radacy and Kamryn Garvie knocked in a pair each to go up 6-0.
The Stars needed two more runs to solidify the run rule which they succeeded on as Emersen Heron scored on a wild pitch before Mallory McCoy singled to left bringing home Tara Hoehner for the eighth run of the game.
GAME NOTES
- Oklahoma City clinched its 11th straight win since opening the season moving its 2024 record to 11-0.
- The Stars earned their third straight run rule over the Tigers in this series.
- Kaitlyn Jones moved her hitting streak to six games while going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and stole her fourth bag of the year.
- Rally Radacy scored her team-leading 14th run of the season while having her first two-RBI game of the season.
- Baileigh Loux saw her 10-game hitting streak come to and being the first game she did not clinch a hit in this season.
- Despite going without a hit, Kamryn Garvie added two RBIs thanks to an error by the second baseman. Garvie collected two RBIs for back-to-back games now after hitting a two-run homer in game two on Friday.
- Emersen Heron added two hits while also throwing 5.0 innings inside the circle. Heron made her second start of the season and shut out the Tigers while earning four strikeouts.
- Mallory McCoy got her third start of the year and posted a two-hit day for the second straight game.
Oklahoma City 18, Central Christian 2
W: Tara Hoehner (1-0)
L: Sarah Lynch (1-5)
Key Leaders
- Emersen Heron – 4-4, 2 2B, 5 RBIs, 3 R
- Amy Crabaugh – 2-2, HR, 3 RBIs, R
- Baileigh Loux – 2-3, 2 2B, 4 R, RBI, BB
- Kindalyn Miller – 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBIs, 2 R
HOW IT HAPPENED
Central Christian (4-7) scored its first two runs of the series in the opening at-bats as the Tigers put up both runs on back-to-back batters.
Oklahoma City (12-0) came back to score three runs in the bottom of the first, ignited by a Kamryn Garvie solo blast into centerfield.
The Stars saw five more runs come in the third with Emersen Heron driving in two runs before Tara Hoehner took advantage of a Tiger error that scored Heron. Tiffany Paul and Kaitlyn Jones each added an RBI in the inning to put OCU up 8-2.
The five-run inning turned out to be overshadowed by a 10-run inning for OCU coming in the fourth. Oklahoma City sent 15 batters to the plate as Heron tacked on two more RBIs to begin the inning. Amy Crabaugh and Kindalyn Miller each added a home run of their own to the inning before Crabaugh came back up to the plate and added another RBI to her line for the 18th run of the game.
GAME NOTES
- Oklahoma City moved to 12-0 with the win, still chasing the 18-0 start back in 2022.
- OCU scored its season-high of 18 runs and tabbed a season-high 16 hits in game two.
- The Stars finished off the series sweep by outscoring the Tigers 43-2 in four games.
- Emersen Heron led the game with five RBIs putting her in a position to tie Baileigh Loux for the team lead.
- OCU collected three home runs in the game with Kamryn Garvie extending her team-high to three while Amy Crabaugh and Kindalyn Miller each hit their long ball of the season.
- Baileigh Loux went on to score four times in the game while going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Despite losing her hitting streak in game one, Loux notched her eighth game of the year with multiple base hits.
- Kaitlyn Jones has secretly snuck up and become one of the top hitters for this Stars team as Jones claimed a hit for the seventh game in a row while going 2-for-4 with a double.
- Tara Hoehner saw her longest outing of the season in game two as the freshman tossed four innings while surrendering two runs on two hits while striking out two.
- Oklahoma City remains unbeaten against Central Christian in the all-time series with a record of 27-0 after sweeping the Tigers in the four-game series to open Sooner Athletic Conference play.
WHAT'S NEXT
OCU will head to the Red Dirt Classic next weekend Mar. 1-2 where it will begin play on Friday against the University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff at 10 AM.
