Clarksville, Ark.-Ozarks pulled off a major upset with a 2-1 game one win over No. 2 Texas-Tyler on Friday, and then took the Patriots to the ninth inning in a 3-2 loss.
Ozarks’ (14-24, 7-15) monumental win came just two days after the Lady Eagles dropped a pair of heart-breaking losses to Hendrix College. Texas-Tyler (35-3, 19-3), ranked No.1 in NCAA III during the season, is currently the No. 2 team in the nation and chasing the ASC East Division crown. It is the first win over Texas-Tyler in program history. In game one, Kaitlyn Poirier doubled in Sarah Otteman in the third to give Ozarks a 1-0 lead. Ozarks took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Cassie Saorrono hit a solo home run. It was her third of the season. The Patriots answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning when Megan Richardson homered. That would be all Ozarks pitcher Brittany Thompson would allow the rest of the way. Thompson (9-7) scattered four hits and issued only two walks in a complete game win. Texas-Tyler did have the winning run on second in the bottom of the seventh, but Thompson forced a groundout to end the contest.
Ozarks had the Patriots on the ropes again in game two, but Texas-Tyler erased a 2-1 seventh-inning deficit to earn a split.
The Lady Eagles maintained a 1-0 advantage until Texas-Tyler tied it in the fifth. Ozarks came back in the next frame to take a 2-1 lead thanks to a Chelsea Joslin home run. Joslin, the school career leader in home runs with 32, now has ten on the year. A seventh-inning rally by Texas-Tyler sent the game into extra innings. Ozarks loaded the bases in the eighth with two outs, but couldn’t plate a run. Ozarks again had a chance to put runs on the board in the top of the ninth as they had a runner on third with one out. The Patriots, however, got out of the inning and won the game with a RBI single by Nicole Willhoite.
Stephany Henson (4-13) took the loss.
The Lady Eagles will finish out the season against East Texas Baptist University April 26 in Marshall, Texas in American Southwest Conference play.
Topics: Athletics