FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University Softball team (13-10, 2-2 SAC) split a doubleheader with the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma (17-9, 5-3 SAC) at Sycamore Park on Saturday. The two teams combined for seven home runs on the day as the Drovers took game one 8-3, and the Rams prevailed in game two 9-4.
In game one, the first eight runs of the contest came via the long ball with the wind drifting out at Sycamore Park. The Drovers scored first when Shaniea Beck touched off her first of two home runs to lead off the third inning.
Texas Wesleyan came back with a two-run shot from
Bailey Terry in the bottom of the inning, but USAO got a pair of two-run homers from Chloe Clifton and Beck in the fourth. An inside-the-park home run from Kaylin Taylor in the fifth and an RBI single from Clifton in the seventh capped the scoring at 7-4.
Tate Landmark (4-1) got the win after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five in seven innings of work.
Lauren Wernet (6-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits in 3.1.
Kaylin Taylor led off game two with a double, but after being tagged out at third on a bunt, she two-hand shoved Texas Wesleyan shortstop
Mackenzie Kirkpatrick. The umpires conferred, elected to do nothing, and the game continued without so much as a warning.
That play seemed to fire up the Rams' offense.
Kayla Prachyl,
Dani Jackson, and
Lauren Wernet started the game with three consecutive singles. The Drovers were issued only one error in the inning; however, three times USAO failed to record an out on a fielder's choice. When the smoke cleared, the Rams had scored five runs on three hits in the inning.
USAO plated an unearned run in the second, but the Rams responded in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back doubles from Wernet and Baily Terry followed by a two-out single from
Samantha Vasquez to push the score to 7-1.
A solo homer from Dakota Lampkin made it 7-2 in the fourth inning, but the Rams put the issue to rest with a two-run bomb from Terry in the sixth. USAO scored a pair of inconsequential runs in the seventh to account for the 9-4 final score.
Brittany Rosenberry (4-2) earned the win after allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits in a complete-game effort. Jordan Detherage (7-4) allowed four runs on three hits without recording an out. Landmark entered in relief and worked another six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.
Wernet was 3-for-4 with two doubles in the win. Terry was 2-for-2 with a double and a home run, and Prachyl finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
The Rams will return to action on Tuesday, when they host the nation's top-ranked team in Oklahoma City University. Game one is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at Sycamore Park.
