CHICKASHA, OK - The University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma is now 39-0 in 2019 but the Drovers were nearly 38-1 after the Lady Rams (13-21, 8-10 SAC) pushed USAO to the brink Friday afternoon in Oklahoma. Texas Wesleyan is only the second team to take the Drovers to extra innings and fell 1-0 in the second game of Friday's doubleheader.

The game featured just six combined hits as TXWES pitcher Makenna Aycock stayed sturdy on the mound, striking out four and trusting her defense to make 18 outs happen on the ground and from falling giant yellow debris on the outfield.

The Lady Rams almost had them in the top of the seventh. Jenna Rhoades ended a no-hitter with her single just beyond home plate. Bailey Terry followed with an infield single that positioned her and Rhoades on first and second, poised to earn the upset. A fielder's choice off of Lacy Mann's contact moved runners to second and third but a strikeout ended the inning and kept USAO out of danger.

In the top of the eighth with a runner automatically placed on second, the Lady Rams added a Kaylee Davenport walk to first while Kimani Ferguson advanced to third on a Saeya Esparza grounder. Two strikeouts ended that opportunity. Fallon Howell (7-0) was responsible for nine USAO Ks. The Drovers clung to their unbeaten ways with a SAC bunt and a single.

The only separator for the Drovers in Game 1 was a grand slam home run in the third that gave the NAIA's No. 1 and only unbeaten softball team a four-run lead. Terry did her best impression, homering to left field in the next frame, but with no one on base she trotted home alone. Esparza singled down the left-field line in the fifth but her teammates couldn't find the bag to help her home.

Aycock pitched both games, facing 54 batters with 11 strikeouts beating out the 10 hits she gave up. The Drovers have now won six-straight extra inning games, dating all the way back to the start of the 2017 season. Their last loss in extra innings? April 1, 2016 to Texas Wesleyan, 4-3.

WHAT'S NEXT
After the two-game series with MACU was moved to Saturday April 20, the Lady Rams will experience the play in Oklahoma City at the end of their road trip, instead of at the beginning. There's still plenty more mileage to make up - next heading to Bethany, OK on Monday April 8 for a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m.