EDMOND – Sydney Ward prevailed in a power vs. power showdown in the top of the seventh inning to close out a 3-2 second-game win that gave No. 10-ranked Central Oklahoma a doubleheader sweep of No. 6 Rogers State Friday afternoon at Gerry Pinkston Stadium.
The Bronchos took the opener 7-4 and were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the nightcap when the hard-throwing Ward blew a pitch past slugger Chloe Bohuslavicky for a game-ending strikeout that put an exclamation point on UCO's fourth straight regular season sweep of the Hillcats.
"Those were two great games between two really good teams and fortunately we came out on top both times," head coach Cody White said. "Rogers has a lot of offensive weapons and I thought for the most part we kept them in check. Holding them to six runs on the day is a great testament to our pitchers and the defense."
The Bronchos improved to 23-4 overall and 5-1 in MIAA play with the sweep. UCO is back home Saturday for a 1 p.m. twinbill against Northeastern State.
Rogers broke on top 1-0 in the first inning of the second game, but the Bronchos answered back quickly in their first at bat. Rylee Anglen drew a one-out walk and Kennedy Clark followed with the first home run of her UCO career as the junior transfer launched a two-strike pitch over the right field fence.
It remained a 2-1 lead until the sixth when Emily Deramus drove a one-out single up the middle, Ariah Mitchell followed with a base hit to left and Makenzie Fithian drew a walk to load the bases. Macie Andrews followed with a hard-hit grounder that got past the shortstop for an error that allowed Deramus to scoot home to make it 3-1.
That turned out to a be a huge run for the Bronchos.
Ward walked the lead-off batter in the top of the seventh, but first baseman Terin Ritz erased that threat when she snared a line drive and tagged the runner for a double play. Abbey Rogers, the leading hitter in the MIAA, hit a solo homer off the left field foul pole to get RSU within 3-2 before Ward won the battle with Bohuslavicky to cap off the complete-game win.
Ward scattered six hits, walked four and struck out three in moving to 6-1 on the season. Seven different players had a hit for the Bronchos.
UCO built a comfortable lead in the opener before surviving some tense moments in the seventh to claim the win.
Rogers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, with the Bronchos using a three-run surge in the second to move in front for good.
Ritz led off with a single up the middle and Mitchell reached on a fielder's choice before Fithian tied it with a double to left-center. Mari Scott added an RBI groundout and Fithian ended up scoring on a wild pitch to put UCO up 3-1.
Ritz added a run-scoring single in the third and Clark delivered a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the fourth to make it a 5-1 advantage. The Bronchos made it 7-1 in the sixth when Mitchell opened with a base hit, Scott reached on a fielder's choice and Rylee Lemos came through with a two-run triple to left.
That appeared to be more than enough, but the Hillcats made things interesting. Bohuslavicky's two-out, three-run homer cut UCO's' lead to 7-4 and Rogers loaded the bases before reliever Shelby Beard was able to get the final out.
Ritz went the first 6.2 innings in picking up the win, improving to 5-2. She struck out six and walked two in a gutsy 150-pitch outing before Beard to the final out to earn her first save.
The Bronchos finished with 11 hits, getting three each from Lemos and Ritz.
