Clarksville, Ark.-The Lady Eagles put a scare into the nation's No. 1-ranked team, but ultimately fell to Louisiana College 5-2 in game two of Saturday's American Southwest Conference double-header.
The Wildcats (28-4, 15-3) blanked Ozarks 9-0 in game one behind a one-hit performance from starting pitching McCaslin Carson.
In game one, Ozarks (5-25, 3-13) trailed 5-0 after five and one-half innings, but the Lady Eagles put a rally together in the bottom half of the frame. Kayla Harris reached base on a single. With two outs, Harris stole second and Emily Burns drew a walk. Sarah Otteman then reached base on a fielder’s choice, loading the bases for Danielle Dirks. Dirks hit a hot shot to the shortstop and beat out the throw to receive a hit, scoring Harris from third. Battling a 5-1 deficit after six and one-half innings, Ozarks again made a two-out rally when Colbey Russo singled up the middle. Harris followed with a triple to right field to score Russo and cut the deficit to 5-2. Ozarks, however, came up empty in their final at-bat as Carson struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
Harris and Russo each went 2-for-3.
Kelsey Mefford (1-6) took the loss after pitching five innings. Kelsea Morris pitched two hitless innings in relief.
The Lady Eagles had trouble against Carson in game one as she threw a no-hitter through six innings. Otteman broke up the no-hitter with a bunt single in the bottom of the seventh. Dirks and Cassie Saorrono also reached base in their final at-bat, but Ozarks couldn’t push a run across the plate.
Carson issued one walk and struck out 11.
Stephany Henson (2-14) was charged with the loss.
The Lady Eagles will host Hendrix College April 15 in a double-header starting at 2:00 p.m. The first game can be heard on the web at www.kxio.nu and locally on KXIO 106.9 FM.
Topics: Athletics