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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg State was on the cusp of a doubleheader sweep Saturday against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma at the PSU Softball Complex.
However, two big two-run home runs (one in each game) helped Central Oklahoma come out with the sweep on a windy day which limited any prolific offense, 3-2 and 5-4 in 10 innings.
“We’re competing and that’s what we want to do because we know we can hang with anybody,” Pitt State head Elizabeth Economon said. “It’s a matter of doing better offensively as a whole. We didn’t manufacture runs. We didn’t have quality at-bats. That’s something we need to improve on.
“We knew we were going to face a great pitcher (Kalynn Schrock). I mean, they’re a great team, for sure. They play well on all sides of the ball so good for them. We’re going to learn and get better from it, I’m very confident.”
The first game was the definition of a pitcher’s duel between Central Oklahoma starter Kalynn Schrock and Pitt State freshman phenom Kyndel Shelburn, who each allowed four hits.
“Kyndel’s been throwing real well for us,” Economon said. “We’re still very confident. I think she only gave up one hit through five and it just happened to go over the fence. She’s shutting people down just left and right. Just those two pitches in that (first) game and one pitch in this (second) game. We’re young. We’re going to get there.”
Two of the four Central Oklahoma hits went over the fence — Nicole Workman a solo home run for the first tally and in the top of the seventh, designated hitter Kacie Edwards hit the game-winning two-run home run.
Pitt State had taken a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Central Oklahoma shortstop Ally Dziadula dropped a Kreslee Ketcham pop fly with two outs, scoring Jordan Bradshaw and Tiffany Brown who were in motion.
Schrock fanned 12 Gorillas and surrendered no earned runs.
Pitt State struck first in the second game on Central Oklahoma starter Amanda McClelland.
Katelyn Birchfield started the second with a single to center field, then Kreslee Ketcham applied pressure on the defense with a perfect bunt. The Central Oklahoma first baseman made a bad throw into center field to allow Birchfield to score. Central tied it up with a Workman RBI double.
Pitt State went back ahead 2-1 after Bradshaw led off with a walk and worked her way around to score on a Birchfield sacrifice fly.
Pittsburg State was on the cusp of a doubleheader sweep Saturday against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma at the PSU Softball Complex.
However, two big two-run home runs (one in each game) helped Central Oklahoma come out with the sweep on a windy day which limited any prolific offense, 3-2 and 5-4 in 10 innings.
“We’re competing and that’s what we want to do because we know we can hang with anybody,” Pitt State head Elizabeth Economon said. “It’s a matter of doing better offensively as a whole. We didn’t manufacture runs. We didn’t have quality at-bats. That’s something we need to improve on.
“We knew we were going to face a great pitcher (Kalynn Schrock). I mean, they’re a great team, for sure. They play well on all sides of the ball so good for them. We’re going to learn and get better from it, I’m very confident.”
The first game was the definition of a pitcher’s duel between Central Oklahoma starter Kalynn Schrock and Pitt State freshman phenom Kyndel Shelburn, who each allowed four hits.
“Kyndel’s been throwing real well for us,” Economon said. “We’re still very confident. I think she only gave up one hit through five and it just happened to go over the fence. She’s shutting people down just left and right. Just those two pitches in that (first) game and one pitch in this (second) game. We’re young. We’re going to get there.”
Two of the four Central Oklahoma hits went over the fence — Nicole Workman a solo home run for the first tally and in the top of the seventh, designated hitter Kacie Edwards hit the game-winning two-run home run.
Pitt State had taken a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Central Oklahoma shortstop Ally Dziadula dropped a Kreslee Ketcham pop fly with two outs, scoring Jordan Bradshaw and Tiffany Brown who were in motion.
Schrock fanned 12 Gorillas and surrendered no earned runs.
Pitt State struck first in the second game on Central Oklahoma starter Amanda McClelland.
Katelyn Birchfield started the second with a single to center field, then Kreslee Ketcham applied pressure on the defense with a perfect bunt. The Central Oklahoma first baseman made a bad throw into center field to allow Birchfield to score. Central tied it up with a Workman RBI double.
Pitt State went back ahead 2-1 after Bradshaw led off with a walk and worked her way around to score on a Birchfield sacrifice fly.
Central Oklahoma evened it up on a Devyn Frazier RBI double.
The game remained 2-all until the top of the eighth when Tori Cullet plated Ashton Smith on a single but Pitt State left fielder Cheslyn Mitchell kept it a 3-2 lead when she threw out first baseman Hayley Hudson at the plate.
Mitchell led off the eighth with a double and scored on a Birchfield single, extending the game.
Neither team scored in the ninth.
Leading off the top of the 10th, with Frazier placed on second, Workman struck again with a game-winning two-run homer off Shelburn, who came on in relief after Haleigh Sills and Samantha Grove.
Down two runs, Pitt State fell just short of tying it up again. In fact, the Gorillas left the game-tying and game-winning runs in scoring position after Tiffany Brown narrowed it to 5-4 with a RBI single plating Bradshaw, who started the inning at second base.
“It’s nice to see some fight,” Economon said. “We only had five hits that game and a lot of them came late, which is nice because we’re putting the ball in play and making things happen late in pressure situations. We’d like to see that a lot earlier because we can jump on top and maintain a lead. We’ve got fight, we’ve got talent and we understand what we need to do to win. We just have to get there.”
Pitt State dropped to 12-6, 2-2 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while Central Oklahoma improved to 17-5, 3-1 MIAA. The Gorillas had their eight-game winning streak ended.
Northwestern Oklahoma State and Winona State (Minn.) come to Pittsburg for Tuesday and Wednesday doubleheaders, respectively.
Game One
Central Oklahoma 3, Pittsburg State 2
UCO 000 100 2 — 3 4 1
PSU 000 002 0 — 2 4 0
Kalynn Schrock and Tori Cullet. Kyndel Shelburn and Kayla Sears. WP: Schrock (10-2). LP: Shelburn (5-1). E: Ally Dziadula. 2B: Dziadula. HR: Nicole Workman, Kacie Edwards. HBP: Kreslee Ketcham. SH: Katelyn Birchfield. LOB: UCO 3, PSU 5.
Game Two
Central Oklahoma 5, Pittsburg State 4 (10 innings)
UCO 001 010 010 2 — 5 10 1
PSU 011 000 010 1 — 4 5 1
Amanda McClelland, Kalynn Schrock (5) and Tori Cullet. Haleigh Sills, Samantha Grove (8), Kyndel Shelburn (9) and Kayla Sears. WP: Schrock (11-2). LP: Shelburn (5-2). E: Hayley Hudson; Jordan Bradshaw. 2B: Devyn Frazier, Nicole Workman; Cheslyn Mitchell. HR: Workman. HBP: Katelyn Birchfield. SF: Birchfield. SB: Kaylee Brunson 2; Bradshaw, Tiffany Brown.
