DURANT, Okla. – Emily Deramus belted a pair of home runs to lead Central Oklahoma to a 5-0 first-game victory and the No. 6-ranked Bronchos split a non-conference doubleheader with Southeastern Oklahoma Tuesday afternoon.
Shelby Beard backed up Deramus' hitting heroics with a six-hit shutout in the opener before the Savage Storm came back to take the nightcap 5-2. UCO, now 26-5 on the season, returns to MIAA play this weekend with back-to-back doubleheaders at Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western Friday and Saturday.
"Southeastern has a great program and we knew it would be a battle today," head coach Cody White said. "Emily had a couple of big hits and Shelby threw really well for us in the first game. We came out a little flat in the second game, got behind early and didn't really get anything going offensively until it was too late."
Deramus gave UCO an early lead in the opener when she led off the second inning with a moon shot over the left-center field fence. Ariah Mitchell then drew a walk, Kya Watson followed with a double and Macie Andrews drove them both in with a single to right.
The Bronchos pushed the lead to 5-0 in the fifth on Deramus' second homer. Rylee Anglen drew a lead-off walk and SOSU got two quick outs before Deramus drove the first pitch she saw over the left-center field fence.
Deramus entered UCO's top-10 list for career homers with her two bombs. The junior shortstop now has six for the season and 28 for her career, which ranks ninth on the all-time chart.
The Bronchos had several stellar defensive stops in the game, including a diving catch by right fielder Makenzie Fithian that ended the game in the seventh.
Beard improved to 11-1 with her fourth complete game outing and first shutout of the season. The sophomore right-hander scattered six hits and struck out five without walking a batter.
UCO finished with eight hits, getting two each from Deramus and Kennedy Clark.
The Savage Storm took control quickly in the nightcap. SOSU scored twice in the first inning, added another run in the second and made it 5-0 in the fourth en route to earning the split.
The Bronchos tried to mount a last-ditch rally in their final at bat in scoring their lone runs. Mitchell led off the seventh with a double to left, Brooklyn Ryan drove her in with a two-out double to right and Rylee Lemos followed with a run-scoring single through the right side to make it 5-2.
Ryan had two of UCO's six hits in the contest.
