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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Jordyn Pipkin
Jordyn Pipkin
3
Central Oklahoma UCO 53-8
6
Winner North Georgia UNG 61-6
Central Oklahoma UCO
53-8
3
Final
6
North Georgia UNG
61-6
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 4 2
North Georgia UNG 4 0 0 0 2 0 X 6 6 0

W: S. Mooney (10-2) L: Pipkin, Jordyn (19-4)

Game Recap: Softball |

UCO Falls To Nighthawks

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (May 26) – A dreadful start put Central Oklahoma in a hole it couldn't dig out of and the No. 4-ranked Bronchos fell to No. 2 North Georgia 6-3 Friday afternoon at Frost Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Division II Softball Championship
 
UCO – which features Division II's best defense – committed two errors and allowed two runs to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning in falling behind 4-0. UCO rallied to within 4-3, but the Nighthawks added a two-run home run in the fifth to put it away.
 
UCO dropped to 53-8 and will try to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament Saturday with a 3 p.m. (Oklahoma time) contest against either Cal State-San Marcos or Wilmington. The Nighthawks improved to 61-6 in advancing to Sunday's winners bracket finals.

If the Bronchos win Saturday they would face No. 8 Grand Valley State Sunday, needing to beat the Lakers twice to advance to the best-of-three finals.

"We had a pretty disastrous first inning that we tried to recover from and just couldn't do it in the end," head coach Cody White said. "It was very uncharacteristic of our team, but I was proud of our fight to get back in the game and make a game of it."

UCO tried to bounce back from its sloppy start, scoring once in the third and twice in the fourth to get within 4-3.
 
Mikayla Rutland got the Bronchos on the scoreboard in the third when she led off with a line-drive double to the left-center field gap, advanced to third on Rylee Lemos' sacrifice bunt and scored on Emily Deramus' sacrifice fly.
 
The Bronchos scored a pair of fourth-inning runs in unusual fashion.
 
Shayla Harper reached on a fielder's choice that resulted in the first out and stole second before Shayleigh Odom had a two-out single up the middle. Tatum Long was hit by pitch to load the bases, then Rutland drew an RBI walk and Lemos was plunked to force in another.

But UCO couldn't complete the comeback. The Nighthawks hit a two-run homer in the fifth to up their lead to 6-3 and the Bronchos were unable to answer.
 
"Even after they hit that home run I honestly thought we had plenty of time to come back," Rutland said. "We just kept fighting. It didn't work out for us in the end, but we're going to come back strong tomorrow."

UCO has a long road ahead to stay in the running for the national title, though White is confident in his team's ability to bounce back.

"When it's a championship setting like this we really don't have time to think about what just happened," White said. "We have to move on to tomorrow. Our backs have been against the wall before and we fight and I expect no less this time."
 
Jordyn Pipkin was solid in the circle for the Bronchos in taking the loss, giving up five hits and three earned runs in five innings.
 
"When things went a little south in the first inning, she (Pipkin) kept her head on her shoulders in a positive way," White said. "She pitched well and gave us a chance to win the game. I was proud of her."
 
UCO managed just four hits.
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