ALVA, Okla. – Ella Friederich homered and drove in four runs Saturday as the Harding softball team powered past Northwestern Oklahoma for a road sweep, taking the doubleheader opener 10-1 in six innings before claiming a 5-2 victory in the game two.
With the wins, Harding improves to 27-22 on the season and 22-11 in the GAC, while Northwestern Oklahoma State falls to 15-38 overall and 7-26 in the GAC.
After Saturday's conference results, Harding will be the No. 4 seed in the GAC tournament next week and will play No. 5 seed Southern Nazarene at 10:30 a.m., Thursday May 7 in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Game 1: Harding 10, Northwestern Okla. 1
In the opener, Avery Booker (9-5) turned in a strong performance in the circle, allowing just one run over five innings of work to earn the win. Michaela Brown pitched a scoreless final frame to seal the run-rule-shortened victory.
Harding took advantage of five Northwestern Oklahoma errors, but the offense provided plenty of its own fireworks. Friederich delivered the definitive blow in the top of the sixth inning, launching a three-run home run to left field to put the Lady Bisons up by double digits.
Harding struck first in the second inning with a pair of unearned runs on a sacrifice fly by Kate Pierce and an RBI single from Bailey Willis. The Lady Bisons blew the game open in the fourth, scoring four times on RBI singles from Willis, Bailey Robinson, and Zoey Neal.
Neal finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Willis went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in.
Game 2: Harding 5, Northwestern Okla. 2
The Lady Bisons relied on steady offensive production and a group pitching effort to secure the sweep in the second game.
Brooklyn Gobble (18-13) earned the win, pitching four innings and allowing only one earned run. Jorja Wheeler provided relief in the fifth before Avery Booker returned to the circle in the sixth and seventh to earn her first save of the season, retiring the final five batters she faced.
Harding jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Friederich drove in Robinson with an RBI single and Logan Ringel scored on a error. Neal added to the lead in the second with an RBI single that brought home Willis.
The Rangers cut into the lead in the fourth and fifth innings, capitalizing on a double by Jamie Molina and a Harding error to make it 4-2. However, Robinson provided some insurance in the sixth, lining an RBI single to right-center to score Kate Pierce.
Robinson, Neal and Pierce all finished with two hits in the game. The Lady Bisons out-hit the Rangers 11-5 in the second game, continuing a productive day at the plate that saw Harding rack up 21 hits across the twin bill.
