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University of Central Oklahoma Athletics

The Official Site of Central Oklahoma University Athletics Central Oklahoma Athletics
Rylee Lemos
Rylee Lemos
1
Central Oklahoma UCO 42-12
4
Winner Pittsburg State PSU 51-5
Central Oklahoma UCO
42-12
1
Final
4
Pittsburg State PSU
51-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Central Oklahoma UCO 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
Pittsburg State PSU 1 0 1 2 0 0 X 4 9 0

W: Kiana Pogroszewski (18-2) L: Pipkin, Jordyn (15-5)

Game Recap: Softball |

UCO Ousted From MIAA Tourney

No. 9 Bronchos Fall To No. 4 Pittsburg State 4-1

EDMOND – A fast start fizzled and Central Oklahoma was eliminated from the MIAA Softball Championship Friday afternoon at Gerry Pinkston Stadium.
 
The No. 9-ranked Bronchos opened their semifinal contest against No. 4 Pittsburg State with two straight hits in jumping on top 1-0, but that's all the offense UCO could muster in a 4-1 setback.
 
The Bronchos had a 19-game home winning streak snapped in falling to 42-12 on the season. The Gorillas moved to 51-5 and into Saturday's noon title game against No. 12 Rogers State, with the winner claiming the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II national tournament.
 
UCO is virtually assured of earning an at-large berth into that 64-team field, which will be announced Monday morning. Eight teams from eight regions around the country make up the bracket and the Bronchos were second in the most recent Central Region rankings, with the No. 1 and 2 teams hosting four-team sub-regionals next week.
 
"I thought we battled hard, but it just wasn't good enough against a really strong Pitt State team," head coach Cody White said. "We feel good about being in a regional next week with what our team has done all season and hopefully we get a chance to host. This group is capable of doing a lot of great things moving forward and I'm excited about that."
 
UCO was the visitor against Pitt State as the lower seed and started with a bang in the top of the first.
 
Rylee Lemos opened the game by drilling a shot to left field and hustled out a double in reaching base for the 52nd time in UCO's 54 games. The speedy sophomore then raced around to score on Emily Deramus' single to left to give the Bronchos a quick 1-0 lead.
 
But thoughts of a big inning ended with a double pay grounder and an infield pop-up. And, despite getting a runner on base the next five innings, UCO never scored again.
 
The hard-hitting Gorillas sport a hefty .355 team average that ranks eighth-best in Division II and tied the game in the bottom of the first with a pair of hits of their own.
 
PSU broke the 1-1 deadlock with a two-out run-scoring hit in the third, then scored twice in the fourth to make it 4-1.
 
The Bronchos finished with six hits, getting two from Lemos. Shelby Beard pitched well in relief for UCO, giving up just one hit in the final 2.2 innings.
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