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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
JoBi Heath
8
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 40-18
4
Minnesota Duluth UMD 35-17
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
40-18
8
Final
4
Minnesota Duluth UMD
35-17
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 0 0 1 0 1 4 2 8 12 1
Minnesota Duluth UMD 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 9 2

W: Brady, Nicole (15-4) L: Hartmann,S. (18-8)

Game Recap: Softball |

UCO Stays Alive In Regional

MAGNOLIA, Ark. (May 6) – JoBi Heath started a sixth-inning rally with a double and added a two-run home run in the seventh as Central Oklahoma beat Minnesota-Duluth 8-4 to stay alive in the NCAA Division II Central Regional II Tournament here Friday afternoon.
 
The Bronchos reached the 40-win mark (40-19) for the fifth straight season with the victory and will take on Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association rival Missouri Western in another loser's bracket contest at 6 p.m.
 
The UCO-MWSU winner moves on to face tournament host Southern Arkansas in Saturday's finals, needing two wins to advance to next week's Central Super Regional.

"We came up with some big hits late in the game and pulled out a good win," head coach Cody White said.  "I told the team that we had to win four rounds to come back and win this tournament.  We won round one and just have to keep fighting."
 
Heath's lead-off double in the sixth ignited a four-run outburst that broke a 2-2 tie and the rookie slugger smashed a mammoth two-run homer in the seventh to give the Bronchos an 8-2 lead before the Bulldogs scored twice in their final at bat.
 
UCO finished with 12 hits, getting two apiece from Heath, Ashton Smith, Carli Jones and Ally Dziadula.
 
The Bronchos ended a nine-inning tournament scoreless streak in the third on Halley Randolph's RBI double.  Morgan Heard was hit by pitch to open the inning and went to second on a wild pitch before going home on Randolph's line-drive smash off the right field fence to make it 1-0.
 
The Bulldogs answered back in the bottom of that frame with a two-out solo homer – their first hit of the game -- and went ahead 2-1 in the fourth.
 
UCO tied it in its next at bat on Smith's sacrifice fly.  Rachel Harper started the inning with an infield single, went to second on an error and third on Heard's infield hit and scored on Smith's long fly to center field.
 
The Bronchos erupted for four runs in the sixth behind a surprising small-ball attack.
 
Heath started things in familiar UCO fashion with a double off the wall in left field and Jones followed with a bunt single that caught UMD's defense off guard and put runners on the corners.
 
Dziadula's single through the right side scored Heath with the go-ahead run and then Jones scored on a Lauren Kelley bunt that was thrown away.  Dziadula came across on a wild pitch and pinch-hitter Ashleigh Tramel capped the big inning with a perfect squeeze bunt that plated Kelley to make it 6-2.
 
The Bronchos pushed their advantage to 8-2 in the seventh when Collet led off with a single through the left side and Heath sent a two-run bomb high over the left field fence for her 14th homer of the season.
 
UMD scored twice and had a chance at getting more after loading the bases before Nicole Brady closed it out.   Brady earned the pitching win with 3 1/3 innings of relief work, giving up four hits and two runs in improving to 15-4.
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