Bronchos claim MIAA title with twinbill sweep of Lions

Apr. 30—A lot was on the line Sunday when the Missouri Southern Lions faced the No. 5 University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos in a regular season doubleheader finale on Sunday in Edmond.

The teams entered the twinbill tied for the lead in the MIAA with identical 21-3 records. A sweep of the doubleheader would give the winner the regular season title, and a split would make each team co-champions.

The Bronchos (43-6) claimed the title with a 5-2, 2-1 sweep of MSSU on Sunday.

Central Oklahoma broke out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning in game one en route to the 5-2 win.

Shayleigh Odom led the inning off with a double to centerfield and advanced to third on a Mikayla Rutland sacrifice bunt before scoring on a Rylee Lemos single. After a Lemos steal of second base and an Emily Deraums walk, Lemos crossed the plate on an Amelya Huggins double down the left field line.

The Bronchos held their 2-0 lead through the top of the sixth inning and added three more runs in the bottom of the frame. Shayla Harper hit a solo home run to centerfield with one out and increased UCO's lead to 3-0. Odom hit a two-out double to right center field that plated Terin Ritz, who reached base earlier on a single to third.

Central Oklahoma scored its fifth run when Odom advanced to third on a Rutland single and scored on a throwing error.

The Lions (36-11) tried to mount a rally in the top of the seventh that started with a Leighton Withers walk. Withers advanced to second base on a wild pitch and advanced to third on an Ashlynn Williams single. After a Kara Amos pop out to the pitcher, Withers scored on a wild pitch and Williams advanced to second base. Southern's Abby DeSanto drew a one-out walk before Katie Gray reached on a fielder's choice that advanced DeSanto to second, but Williams was called out at third for the second out of the inning.

An Adrianna Young single loaded the bases, advancing Gray to second and DeSanto to third. DeSanto was driven in by an Emily Perry RBI single to third base to load the bases and bring the Lions to within three runs at 5-2. Yazmin Vargas came to the plate as the winning run, but grounded out to second base, ending the chance of a comeback.

Young went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Lions, while Perry was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Starter Bailey Lacy fell to 12-2 with the loss. Lacy gave up two runs on three hits and one walk in two and a third innings of work. Avery Tallman pitched three and a third innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs. Natalie Bates struck out the one batter she faced.

Game 2

Needing a split in the double header to secure an MIAA co-championship, the Lions jumped out to an early lead in game two when a Vargas bunt single scored Perry, who led off the top of the first inning with a double to left center field. Vargas was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. The Bronchos thwarted further damage by getting a ground ball out on Josie Tofpi and a strike out of Withers.

Game two starter Amos retired the side in the bottom of the inning, getting a fly out of Lemos and Deramus and a groundout to third base from Huggins. The Lions also went down in order in the top of the second inning, with a Williams fly ball to left field, an Amos strikeout and a DeSanto groundout to the pitcher.

Central Oklahoma evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. After a one-out Harper double and a strikeout of Ritz, UCO's T. Long hit an RBI single that brought Harper across the plate. Southern halted the scoring with a fly ball out to right field off the bat of Rutland.

The Lions got two runners on in the third inning, but were unable to tally a run. The Bronchos managed to get runners on the corners with two outs, but were unable to score after Amos struck out Harper on three straight pitches to end the inning.

The Lions were three-up and three-down in the top of the fourth but held UCO scoreless in the bottom of the frame to keep the game even at 1-1. Southern's Young was the sole baserunner in the top of the fifth inning, but was stranded after a Perry fly out to right field.

UCO went down in order in the bottom of the fifth and the Lions managed just one base runner in the top of the sixth in Tofpi, who reached on an error. The Lions allowed no base runners in the bottom of the inning, drawing a fly out to right field from Jacee Minter, a strikeout of Harper and a pop out to first base by Ritz.

DeSanto hit a one-out double to left field in the top of the seventh inning, but pinch runner Peyton Hawkins was stranded after a Gray line drive out to first base and a Young pop-up to second base. MSSU put the Bronchos down in order in the bottom of the seventh and the teams went into extra innings to decided the conference title.

Perry opened the eighth inning with a single to right center. A Vargas bunt advanced Perry to second and an ensuing throwing error advanced the runners to second and third bases with no outs. After a Tofpi groundout to third base, Perry was thrown out on an attempted steal. After a Withers walk, Williams struck out and ended the top of the inning.

Southern got a ground out to short from Lemos before Deramus connected for a double to centerfield. Deramus advanced to third base on a Huggins single on an 0-2 pitch, before scoring the walk-off run off the bat of Harper and securing the regular season title for the Bronchos with a 2-1 win. It was UCO's 12th win in as many games.

Vargas went 3-4 at the plate for the Lions, while Perry was 2-4 and scored once. Huggins was 2-4 for the Bronchos.

In the circle, Amos (2-3) gave up six hits, two walks and two runs while fanning four hitters in the loss. Ritz (17-1) surrendered seven hits, one run, two walks and struck out five.

Central Oklahoma finished its MIAA regular season schedule with a 23-3 conference record. Missouri Southern was second at 21-5, and Rogers State finished third with a 18-8 mark. The MIAA postseason tournament begins Wednesday at Topeka's Envista Field.