SOFTBALL: Science & Arts softball completes memorable sweep of SCU

Austin Litterell, The Express-Star, Chickasha, Okla.
·2 min read

Mar. 11—The University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma softball team completed a conference sweep.

The Drovers — now ranked eighth in the NAIA — entered a Sooner Athletic Conference series against an unbeaten Southwestern Christian University team at the time and ended that streak, handing the Eagles four losses in just the span of a few days. And it was a memorable sweep for the Drovers.

Science & Arts' sweep included a perfect game, a no-hitter and had a baserunning performance for the history books. The Drovers outscored their opponent 33-3 in the four games and shut out their opponent in three of the four games.

The Drovers ended three of the four games in the fifth inning.

Science & Arts' first two games of the series took place on the road, and they rolled to wins of 9-0 and 11-0. Those wins came behind dominant pitching performances.

Sophie Williams shut down the Eagles in the 9-0 victory, striking out 10 batters. But she also threw a perfect game before Abi Gregory tossed a no-hitter in the 11-0 victory.

The third game of the series proved to be much closer, but SCU could still not put a run on the board. The Drovers needed an eighth inning but still earned a 1-0 win behind another dominant performance from Williams in the circle.

Williams struck out 10 batters in eight innings, keeping the opposing offense in check until the Science & Arts offense came through with the winning run. That run came on a walk-off RBI single from Sierra Selfridge in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Drovers used smart baserunning to score several of its runs in a 12-3 win in the final game of the series.

According to Science & Arts, the Drovers stole 19 bases in the win, good enough for second in NAIA history. The school also said that Macenzie Ruth's seven stolen bases are the second-most stolen bases in a game, and Malea McMurtrey's five stolen bases are the fourth most.

Along with the intelligent baserunning came clutch hitting and two RBIs from both Jaylee Willis and Tyler Trott. Willis' two-run single in the third inning made the score 8-0, and Trott's two-run double in the fourth inning made the score 12-2.

Jaclyn Gray also had two RBIs for the Drovers.

Gregory earned another win in the circle.

The Drovers are now 14-6 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.