UCO Softball Goes 3-2 in Cherokee Nation Festival

The University of Central Oklahoma softball team competed in the Cherokee Nation Festival in Tahlequah this past weekend, going 3-2 in the three-day tournament. 

The Bronchos are now 11-4 overall on the season, but they have yet to play in a sanctioned  Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) game.

Central Oklahoma participated in five games, starting with a game on Thursday against Oklahoma Baptist University, in which the Bronchos would come up short against the Bisons, losing 3-9. 

UCO would put the first run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, OBU scored eight runs in the top of the sixth. 

Central would answer back in the bottom of the sixth, putting up two, but the Bisons closed it out in the top of the seventh, putting up the final run of the game. 

Brooklyn Ryan, the centerfielder for the Bronchos, said, “We really wanted that first win, but we knew we had to move on to the next. We felt the loss but woke up the next day and transformed that feeling into motivation and grit to truly take on the teams ahead.”

The Bronchos would learn from their mistakes, winning both of their games on Friday, beating Harding 7-6, which went to the eighth inning, and winning against Arkansas Monticello 7-2. 

On Saturday, UCO would play in another two games with Central coming up short against No. 11 Southern Arkansas, 6-14. 

The Muleriders would put up six unanswered runs until Central would score three runs in the bottom of the second. 

The floodgates would open for Southern Arkansas in the top of the fourth with the Muleriders putting up seven more runs. 

UCO would answer back with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Southern Arkansas would close out the game in the fifth, adding one more run to the final box score.

“After a tough loss, we don’t sit there and dwell on the things that went wrong, but focus more on what we can do to be better in those aspects,” said Ryan. 

Central Oklahoma would bounce back a few hours later, becoming victorious over the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savage Storm, with a final box score of 10-8. 

UCO found themselves down in the box score throughout most of the game, but the Bronchos would continue to battle and end the game in the seventh inning after scoring two runs. 

Ryan said that this past weekend was a great comparison to postseason play.

“We talked about that a lot as a team going into last weekend, and just to shift our mindset and prepare how we would in a postseason way. As someone who has gone deep into postseason play, I greatly appreciate weekends like this where I can build confidence and face adversity against really good teams.”

The Bronchos will be on the road again this weekend, participating in the Washburn Invitational, where Central will play in four separate games, beginning on Saturday at 10 a.m.