ARKADELPHIA- Ouachita Baptist moved past the single-season wins mark and two steps closer to making the Gulf South Conference Tournament with an opening day sweep of Christian after junior Sara Hanson provided fireworks in Game 2 with a walk-off two-run home run for a 9-7 victory at Sully Anderson Field in Arkadelphia on Saturday.
The sweep eclipsed the single-season wins mark with the 35th win of the season and moved Ouachita Baptist (35-21, 13-15 GSC West) closer to officially securing a spot in the GSC Tournament, as the Lady Tigers moved into the No. 3 spot in the GSC West race, behind leader Arkansas-Monticello (21-5) and Henderson State (14-14). With one more victory in Sunday’s doubleheader, the Lady Tigers will be assured of at least the No. 4 seed. The previous all-time single-season wins mark was previously set at 33 during the 2005 season, when Ouachita finished at 33-25.
Despite only having two at-bats previously all season, Hanson delivered on the biggest hit of her career, slamming a two-out pitch over the left field fence, erasing the seven-straight unanswered runs by Christian Brothers that tied the game at 7-7 after Ouachita jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings.
During Game 1, junior starter Kristen Rigsbee propelled Ouachita to a 3-0 shutout, as the Lady Tigers scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Junior Sarah Bell scored the opening run on a passed ball to give Ouachita a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, freshman Megan Askew slammed her fifth home run of the season to deep center field to stretch the lead to 2-0. In the sixth, the Lady Tigers scored the final run on a solo home run shot to left, tying her with Rigsbee and senior Haley Chambers for the team lead with 13 homers in 2010.
Rigsbee (18-8) went the distance for a three-hit shutout, going seven innings and recording 12 strikeouts. Bell provided the only multiple hit performance, going 2-for-3 and scoring two runs as the Lady Tigers only recorded four total team hits.
In Game 2, Askew opened in same fashion the scoring ended in the first game, with a leadoff home run for the first of five runs. After three-straight singles by sophomore Jana Deen, junior Sarah Bell and junior Kristen Rigsbee loaded the bases, an RBI groundout from senior Haley Chambers put the score at 2-0. Freshman Kayci Wilson followed with a two-run double to plate Bell and Rigsbee after Deen scored on a wild pitch to stretch the lead to 4-0. Wilson then came around to score on another wild pitch to set the score at 5-0.
In the second inning, Bell slammed a two-run double to score sophomore Alexis Johns and Deen to give Ouachita a 7-0 lead after just innings of play.
The game seemed to be over until Christian Brothers rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth, followed by four runs in the seventh to extend the game to extra innings. Ouachita had a chance in the bottom of the seventh, when Hanson led opened the inning with a leadoff double off the left center field wall, but the Lady Tigers ended the inning with the bases loaded and three runners stranded.
After Hanson entered midway through the seventh inning, the junior shut down Christian Brothers in the eighth, giving Ouachita an opportunity to end it in the bottom half of the inning.
The Lady Tigers recorded back-to-back outs to put the game in doubt, as a walk by Rigsbee provided the only hope before Hanson stepped to the plate. The slam in the fourth official at-bat in 2010 for Hanson finished the sweep for Ouachita.
Hanson (6-3) not only hit the game-winner in Game 2, but also picked up the victory on the mound, going 1.2 innings and allowing two hits.
Deen, Bell and Wilson each recorded two hits for Ouachita, while Bell and Rigsbee produced 2 RBI in the victory.
Ouachita Baptist returns to action for a Sunday doubleheader against Christian Brothers beginning at 1 p.m. at Sully Anderson Field on Sunday.
