Bronchos softball finishes flawless in Drury Classic

The No. 12 Lady Bronchos softball team seems to have found their stride following an outstanding weekend in Springfield, Missouri, as the team took part in the Drury Classic.

Game one against Minnesota-Crookston was the perfect tone-setter for the whole weekend. UCO would score two runs in the first inning and a staggering five runs in the second to blow the game wide open. It was a team effort all around. No single batter for UCO has more than two hits or two RBIs, and pitcher Jordyn Pipkin hosed batters on the mound giving up only one hit and ringing up six strikeouts in the complete-game showing. Central would grab one more run in the fourth inning of a game that would not reach even the bottom of the fifth inning. UCO rolled in game one to the 8-0 run-rule win.

Game two was more of the same. Against Missouri S&T, the Lady Bronchos lit it up. Theta’s would battle through four scoreless innings before UCO exploded for six runs in the fifth. MST would answer with one run in the inning that was quickly countered by two Broncho runs in the sixth. Central would tack on four more runs in the seventh for good measure, and the opposition could only muster one more run before the game ended, 12-2 UCO. Rylee Lemos and Tatum Long headlined the team’s 14 hits with one homer each in the contest as the Lady ‘Chos moved to 2-0 on the weekend.

In game three against Minnesota-Duluth, UCO kept the pedal down. Like in the previous game, each team started slow, scoreless through three innings followed by the teams trading runs in the fourth. Then in the sixth inning, the Lady ‘Chos came alive for three runs, then in the seventh a Lemos home run added two more runs as the team finished with the 6-1 win. Terin Ritz also homered in the contest while pitching for her sixth win as a starter this season.

The slow starts continued to plague the team in their final game of the weekend against the host team, Drury University. Following an opening inning RBI single from Long, UCO would remain scoreless for the next five innings. All the while, Drury would move out to a 3-1 lead going into the sixth. In that inning, UCO would finally break through. With the bases loaded, Lemos would hit a bases clearing triple to make the score 4-3, then steal home for another run just moments later, now 5-3. That sequence from the All-American would prove to be the difference as Drury could not muster an answer, as the Lady ‘Chos escape the final game for the undefeated weekend.

Following their 4-0 record in Missouri, the team now sits at 12-6 and on a five-game win streak. With the rocky start to the season well behind them, the team looks to be hitting their stride as they resume conference play this weekend at home against Washburn.