TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Rogers State softball team needed extra innings Saturday to earn a split on day one of the 4th Annual Northeastern State Softball Festival falling 5-2 to Midwestern State before a 7-6, extra-inning win over Wisconsin-Parkside in the finale from Tahlequah High School.
Katlin Alexander gave the Hillcats the dramatic walk-off win in game two doubling in the bottom of the 10th inning. She finished the day 5-for-8 at the plate adding a three-run home run against the Rangers.
GAME ONE – Midwestern StateTwice, RSU held a one-run lead in the opening game, but stranded 10 runners on base as Midwestern State scored four-unanswered runs to win 5-2. The Hillcats left runners on base in six of seven innings, including two on base four times.
Katelyn Gamble drew an eight-pitch, lead-off walk in the top of the first and came around to score on a double off the bat of
Morgen Blanchard. The lead was short lived as the Mustangs countered with three hits leading to the tying run in the bottom half of the inning.
RSU regained the one-run edge scoring on a sacrifice squeeze bunt in the fourth. Alexander started the frame with a single and pinch runner
Carson DuBose moved into scoring position on a single by
Taylor Santistevan. After a wild pitch moved both runners up a base,
Randye Sharp delivered a perfect bunt plating DuBose for a 2-1 advantage.
MSU hit a two-run single in the fifth for a 3-2 edge and a bases-loaded walk capped the three-run inning. The Mustangs tacked on another run in the sixth for the 5-2 victory.
Jessica Christian suffered the loss for the Hillcats in the circle tossing 5.1 innings allowing nine hits and four runs.
GAME TWO – Wisconsin-ParksideRSU went to its first extra inning affair of the young season to pull off the split defeating Wisconsin-Parkside 7-6 in 10 innings on Alexander's winning RBI double.
The Hillcats squandered a four-run margin, but came through with the heroics during the international tiebreaker on Alexander's fourth hit and fourth RBI of game two.
The Rangers opened the scoring in the third scoring on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. RSU broke the game open in the bottom of the inning posting six runs on four hits as Alexander provided the spark clearing the bases with her first home run of the season for a 6-2 lead.
Gamble and
Ashleigh Stidman started the inning with singles before advancing to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Christian and
Arika Araujo tallied RBI groundouts for the Cats and
Jamie Kowalick followed with a run-scoring double before the three-run home run from Alexander.
UWP evened the score in the sixth striking for four runs on five hits, including a pair of singles to open the frame. Danica Bramschreiber hit a two-run single in the inning as the game tied 6-6 and headed into extras.
Both sides had chances to put the game away in the eighth with runners reaching third base and the Hillcats dodged a bullet in the tenth as Gamble threw out the go-ahead run at the plate. The defensive momentum carried into the bottom of the tenth as Kowalick was placed on second before Alexander hit a 1-1 double into the opposite field for the 7-6 win.
Rachel Jones earned the win for RSU pitching seven innings allowing one run on four hits.
The Hillcats (4-7 overall) close the NSU Softball Festival Sunday with a pair of games facing the host RiverHawks at 11:30 a.m. before a 4:30 p.m. clash with Cameron.
