Box Score

Rachel Harper

Missouri Western MWSU 45-12

Central Oklahoma UCO 40-20

Missouri Western MWSU

45-12

Final

May. 06, 2016

Central Oklahoma UCO

40-20

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Missouri Western MWSU	0	2	2	1	0	0	4	9	13	3
Central Oklahoma UCO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2

W: Smith,Janie (24-9) L: Lancaster,Abbie (6-2)

Game Recap: Softball | 5/6/2016 8:11:00 PM

Griffons End UCO's Season

MAGNOLIA, Ark. (May 6) – Central Oklahoma had a Missouri Western problem in 2016 and now the Bronchos' season is over.

UCO fell to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association rival Griffons for the fifth time in five outings this spring, dropping a 9-0 decision in an elimination game of the NCAA Division II Central Regional II Tournament here Friday evening.

The Bronchos ended the season 40-20 – reaching the 40-win mark for the fifth straight year – while MWSU improved to 45-12 and moved into Saturday's finals against tournament host Southern Arkansas.

UCO stayed alive earlier Friday with an 8-4 victory over Minnesota-Duluth behind a 12-hit attack before falling once again to the Griffons, who swept a regular season doubleheader from the Bronchos and then won twice in last week's league tourney.

"Missouri Western has a great team and they definitely had our number this year," head coach Cody White said. "We had a lot of great chances to score tonight and just couldn't come up with the big hit when we needed it.

"Obviously it's a disappointing loss and a tough way to end the season, but it doesn't take away from everything we accomplished. We've got a bunch of young players and I have a lot of confidence in what this program can do moving forward."

The Bronchos were shutout for the second time in three games despite having plenty of base-runners, stranding 12 runners -- including at least two in five straight innings -- as UCO was unable to take advantage of six hits, four walks and three errors.

MWSU took control early with two runs on a walk and three consecutive hits in the second inning and then made it 4-0 in the third.

The Bronchos wasted prime scoring opportunities in both the third and fourth innings.

Rachel Harper led off the third with a bunt single for UCO's first hit of the game and went to third on Ashton Smith's single to right-center field. It looked like the Bronchos would load the bases with one out when Halley Randolph's fly ball to shallow left field was dropped, but Harper was thrown out after getting caught too far off the bag.

That cost a run when Tori Collet followed with a single through the left side to load the bases and MWSU avoided any damage when JoBi Heath's hard-hit line drive to left field was snagged for the final out.

The Griffons scored once in the top of the fourth to go up 5-0 and UCO had another great chance in the bottom of that frame.

Carli Jones and Morgan Heath had base hits, but the Griffons made a sensational diving catch in left to save one run and then got the final out on a running, juggling, basket grab by the second baseman in short right field with the bases loaded.

MWSU blew the game open with four runs in the top of the seventh.

It was the final game for four UCO seniors – Harper, Smith, Nicole Brady and Ally Dziadula.

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