TOPEKA, Kan. – Emily Deramus had a dominating day at the plate and a trio of Central Oklahoma pitchers combined for 10 shutout innings in leading the No. 13-ranked Bronchos to a pair of run-rule routs on the first day of the Washburn Invitational Sunday.
UCO opened the day with a 10-0 romp over Missouri S&T as Deramus drove in a career-high five runs and the junior standout added three more RBI in an 8-0 blanking of Concordia-St. Paul. Shelby Beard, Jordyn Pipkin and Sydney Ward overwhelmed the two teams in the pitching circle, allowing just four hits on the day.
The Bronchos improved to 11-2 with the sweep. UCO resumes play in the three-day event Monday at 9:30 a.m. against Wayne State before taking on Minnesota State at 11:30 a.m., then finishes Tuesday against Minot State at noon and Maryville at 4 p.m.
"I was a little worried about how the limited amount of practice we had last week would affect us, but we played pretty well in all phases," head coach Cody White said. "We did some good things offensively and Emily had a great day for us in showing what kind of hitter she is.
"All three pitchers threw well. To give up four hits in 10 innings after having not thrown outside in a week is pretty amazing and I'm really proud of how our pitching looked today."
Beard stayed unbeaten (6-0) with the first-game win, giving up two hits in the first four innings while walking one and striking out five. Pipkin came on in the fifth and put the Miners down in order to finish off the blowout.
The game was scoreless until the top of the third when the Bronchos took command with a five-run outburst.
Brooklyn Ryan led off the inning with a single and promptly scored the only run UCO would need when Rylee Lemos followed with a triple down the right field line. Rylee Angle had an RBI single to left, Terin Ritz drew a one-out walk and Deramus blasted a three-run home run to left-center to make it 5-0.
The Bronchos came back with five more runs in the fourth, with Deramus' two-run double to left-center the big blow. UCO also got an RBI single from Kennedy Clark and a sacrifice fly from Anglen, while Deramus scored the final run on an error.
Lemos, Clark and Deramus had two hits apiece to lead a nine-hit attack.
Ward continued Central's pitching dominance in the second game with a two-hit gem. The hard-throwing senior transfer didn't walk a batter and struck out seven in notching her first shutout with the Bronchos and the 17th of her career.
Ward got the only support she required in the bottom of the first when UCO pushed across two runs.
Lemos opened the inning with a walk, Anglen singled up the middle and Clark reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Deramus drove a one-out RBI single to left-center and Ariah Mitchell followed with a run-scoring fielder's choice to make it 2-0.
The Bronchos broke it open with a five-run third. Mitchell had the big hit with a two-run single, Deramus and Mari Scott added RBI hits and the final run scored on an error as UCO opened up a 7-0 cushion.
Central reached the eight-run threshold needed for the run rule in the fourth when Clark led off with a double to right field, advanced to third on Ritz's fly out and scampered home on Deramus' sacrifice fly to right.
The Bronchos finished with nine hits, getting two apiece from Clark and Deramus.
