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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

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Tatum Long
Tatum Long
11
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 39-8, 19-2 MIAA
0
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT 18-26, 6-15 MIAA
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
39-8, 19-2 MIAA
11
Final
0
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT
18-26, 6-15 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 3 4 4 0 0 11 12 4
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

W: Beard, Shelby (5-0) L: Morillas, Daniella (10-11)

6
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO 40-8, 20-2 MIAA
5
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT 18-27, 6-16 MIAA
Winner
Central Oklahoma UCO
40-8, 20-2 MIAA
6
Final
5
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT
18-27, 6-16 MIAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 6 10 3
Nebraska Kearney UNKSOFT 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 4 2

W: Beard, Shelby (6-0) L: Janssen, Madeline (6-12)

Game Recap: Softball |

Long Long Ball Lifts UCO To Sweep Of Lopers

Bronchos Roll 11-0 In Game 1 Before Rallying For 6-5 Game 2 Win

KEARNEY, Neb. – Tatum Long blasted a sixth-inning grand slam to cap a late rally that lifted Central Oklahoma to a thrilling 6-5 second-game victory over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday afternoon.
 
The  No. 6-ranked Bronchos plastered the Lopers 11-0 in the five-inning opener before overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the nightcap to earn the sweep. UCO improved to 40-8 in reaching the 40-win mark for the 10th time in 13 seasons and are now 20-2 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

"We didn't play very well the first five innings and put ourselves in a bind, but the girls never gave up," said head coach Cody White, who has led the Bronchos to 40-plus wins in eight of his 11 years at the helm. "We kept fighting and Tatum really stepped up in a clutch situation.
 
"It wasn't pretty, but we found a way to get it done and that's what counts."
 
UCO leads the league standings by one game over No. 8 Rogers State and No. 9 Pittsburg State heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Bronchos go on the road for back-to-back doubleheaders at Missouri Southern and PSU next Friday and Saturday.
 
UNK built a 5-1 lead after five innings in the second game with plenty of help from the Bronchos. The Lopers scored once in the first without a hit, took advantage of four walks in the fourth for two runs and scored twice more in the fifth off a pair of UCO errors.
 
Terin Ritz provided the only offense in the first five innings, leading off the fourth with her 17th home run of the season. The junior standout moved into fourth place on the school's single-season homer list with a blast to center field.
 
And then came the sixth.
 
Ritz started the inning with an infield single and went to second on a wild pitch before scoring on Jacee Minter's single to left field. McKenna Johnson walked and Shayleigh Odom reached on an error to load the bases for Long.
 
The senior first baseman/designated player promptly cleared them, launching her fifth homer of season over the center field fence to put the Bronchos on top 6-5.
 
Shelby Beard put UNK down in order in the sixth and seventh innings to close out the game and earn her second win of the day. The freshman struck out one while giving up one hit and two walks in the final 3.1 innings to improve to 6-0.
 
UCO finished with 10 hits, getting two each from Long, Minter, Ritz and Rylee Lemos.
 
Emily Deramus went 3-for-3 and also scored three runs in leading a 12-hit attack in the opener. Lemos and Odom added two hits apiece and the Bronchos also benefitted from eight walks and five wild pitches.
 
UCO asserted itself from the outset, scoring three runs in the top of the first before adding four more in each of the second and third innings.
 
Lemos – who had reached base in the first 45 games of the season before getting shut out in Friday's second-game loss to Fort Hays State – opened the contest with a double down the left field line. Deramus followed with a run-scoring single to right-center, with Odom adding an RBI single and Long a run-scoring groundout to make it 3-0.
 
Rylee Anglen led off the second with a single to center field, Lemos walked and Deramus singled to load the bases with no outs. Ritz's sacrifice fly plated the first run, Johnson drove in a pair with a single to right field and Odom's RBI double down the left field line upped UCO's lead to 7-0.
 
The Bronchos completed the scoring in the third with another four-run outburst.
 
Lemos got things going with a one-out single to center, Deramus walked and Ritz drove an RBI single to left field before Minter did the same. Ritz and Minter ended up scoring on wild pitches to push the cushion to 11-0.
 
Beard tossed three no-hit innings in relief to pick up the win, striking out one. Ritz started and went the first two innings, giving up one hit without a walk while fanning three.
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