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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

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Lauren Gibson
Lauren Gibson
10
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 40-4, 22-2 MIAA
4
Mo. Southern St. MSSU 19-23, 10-14 MIAA
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
40-4, 22-2 MIAA
10
Final
4
Mo. Southern St. MSSU
19-23, 10-14 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 1 4 1 0 0 4 0 10 13 2
Mo. Southern St. MSSU 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 4 11 2

W: McLeod, Sydney (16-3) L: Atkin,A (7-10) S: Gibson, Lauren (1)

Game Recap: Softball |

Conference Champs!

JOPLIN, Mo. (April 26) – Conference champions again!

No. 1-ranked Central Oklahoma captured its third regular-season Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association softball championship in six years Friday afternoon, beating Missouri Southern 10-4 to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Bailey Thompson went 4-for-5 at the plate to spark the Bronchos, who improved to 40-4 in reaching the 40-win mark for just the eighth time in school history – and the fifth under sixth-year head coach Cody White.  UCO, now 22-2 in the conference, wraps up the regular season Saturday with a noon doubleheader at Pittsburg State.

"I'm really proud of this team for accomplishing one of our main goals in winning the conference, but we still have a lot left that we want to do," said White, now 240-94 at the UCO helm.  "We did some good things today and winning two games on the road in this league is never easy, so I'm happy with how we played."

Hazel Puempel added three hits and Carli Jones two to go along with Thompson's big game as the Bronchos finished with 13 hits.  Sydney McLeod started and went the first four innings to earn the pitching win before giving way to Lauren Gibson, who threw three shutout innings to pick up the save.

UCO took a quick lead, pushing across one run on three hits in the top of the first.

Puempel led off the game with a single to left field and went to third on Thompson's double to left-center but was later thrown out at home on a fielder's choice.  Jones delivered a two-out single through the right side to score Thompson and make it 1-0.

The Lions answered in the bottom of the first with a run to tie it, but Central answered right back in its next offensive try to regain the lead.

Allie Eicher led off the second with a walk, went to second on a passed ball and reached third on an error that allowed Casady Webb to reach base before racing home on Puempel's single off the pitcher.

Puempel stole second to put runners on second and third for Halley Randolph, who roped a line-drive double to the right-center field gap.  Randolph later scored on an error to push UCO's lead to 5-1.

The cushion grew to 6-1 in the third on Thompson's bloop run-scoring single to left-center that scored Webb, who started the inning with a walk and went to second on Brighton Gilbert's sacrifice.

Missouri Southern scored twice in the fourth and had the bases loaded with one out, but McLeod avoided more damage with a strikeout and routine groundout.

The Lions opened the fifth with three straight hits to pull within 6-4 before Gibson came on with no outs and two runners on.  The sophomore right-hander induced MSSU into three straight fly outs in getting out of the jam.

UCO gained breathing room in the top of the sixth with a four-run volley, keyed by Gilbert's two-run single.

Back-to-back singles by JoBi Heath and Jones to start the inning and Eicher's one-out base hit loaded the bases, with Webb drawing a walk to force in the first run.

Gilbert followed with a hard shot up the middle to score two more and Thompson's two-out RBI single through the right side made it 10-4.


 
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