FORT WORTH, TX - Texas Wesleyan Softball (2-10) continues to come close to victories, but couldn't come away with one Friday afternoon at Sycamore Park against Ottawa University (4-4). The Lady Rams dropped the first 6-4 and the second 6-3 after nearly pulling a stunning seventh-inning rally.
TXWES scored all of its seven runs on the day after the fourth inning - five of which came in seventh-inning frames. Game 2 got particularly exciting with the lights buzzing on late in the doubleheader. Trailing 6-0,
Bridgette Krippel singled to left center to start the inning.
Kenzie Wilson took a walk before
Khloe Summers singled to center field to send Krippel home. Things didn't get much better for the Braves after a pitching change, with Peyton Davidson's single to score Wilson ... 6-2.
Jenna Rhoades took a walk to load the bases before
Chyann Jarrett smacked a shot down the right-field line. Ottawa's third baseman thought she had snagged it, but the ball fell out of her glove. In the panic, she tagged Davidson out at third but Summers scored.
Kylie Summers put a ball in play in almost the exact same way down the left-field line to load the bases once more.
Ashton Davis went for the game-winning grand slam on a 2-2 count, but could not connect in defeat.
Davidson went 3-of-7 at the plate with 3 RBI in total, Friday.
Kylie Summers went 3-for-6 and got the offense going in both games when hits were hard to come by.
The tandem of starting pitchers - freshman
Taylor Tubbs and junior transfer
Brianna Gibbons - each had long afternoons trying to stifle the Braves offense who sent plenty of reserves chasing softball's in foul territory. Both pitchers climbed over 130 pitches in full seven-inning efforts, which certainly had their highlights. Tubbs struck out 10 in the loss, while Gibbons retired six.
Of the ten losses so far this season, seven have come by three runs or less.
Lacy Mann has been redshirted and will miss the season with an injury. With Mann and the team's career home-run record holder -
Bailey Terry - in attendance and looking on, the team's top two bats from 2019 will not be stepping up to the plate anytime soon. Rhoades, Davis and Krippel are hitting over .300 so far in the young season as the squad develops new offensive weapons in the still very young 2020 campaign.
Sooner Athletic Conference play starts Tuesday with a doubleheader at Sycamore Park against Southwestern Christian at 2 p.m. before Oklahoma City comes to town March 3 at the same start time.
