OPSU Ends Softball Season with Thriller

oodwell, Okla.-Ten Oklahoma Panhandle State University seniors all played
in their final game in an Aggie uniform Saturday afternoon and kept their
fans involved through all seven innings with some great plays in the third
game of the series against Texas A&M International.

The Dustdevils earned a run in the first inning for an early lead. Junna’e
Dai’Re smacked a lead-off, stand-up triple in the second and scored the
tying run off a Britnie Weddle sacrifice fly. In third Kaitlin McCool hit a
lead-off double and advanced to third when Brandi Heath hit a sacrifice
bunt. Emily Vasquez followed that with a single to send McCool home and then
dependable Dai’Re singled to score Vasquez and the Aggies took a 3-1 lead.

Both teams remained scoreless until TAMIU banged out nine runs in the fifth,
but OPSU refused to quit. Krista Bomak stepped up to the plate in the fifth
and doubled, scoring Kari Pitts and Vasquez. The Dustdevils scored a single
run in the sixth that the Aggies answered when Heath hit a sacrifice fly to
get Cross safely home to put the score at 11-6, TAMIU. The Dustdevils
increased their lead to 12-6 in the seventh and the Aggies still held on.
Bomak led off with a single in the seventh that Saldana followed with
another single. Weddle doubled and second base runner Bomak got her wheels
going and slid into home while Saldana went on to third. Saldana scored
easily on a passed ball, and then Weddle took advantage of a bad toss by the
catcher to score. Unfortunately, the rally fell short and women lost the
game 12-9, but the women played one of the best games of the season.

Over the three game series, Junna’e Dai’Re, at right field, made a number of
seemingly impossible catches, getting eight putouts total with five of those
on Saturday. On Saturday, Dai’Re and Weddle both went 2-4 at the plate and
Bomak and Weddle each had two RBIs. Starting pitcher Kayla Pollard threw
just over five innings, allowing seven hits. A’lex Koonce was credited with
the loss.

Seniors honored prior to the game included A’lex Koonce, Kaitlin McCool,
Krista Bomak, Jordan Saldana, Presj’el Dai’Re, Britnie Weddle, Brandi Heath,
Julie Cross, Kari Pitts and Kayla Pollard. Destyni Traylor was also
recognized, but was unable to attend the game.

Head coach Meghan Mulcahy and assistant coach Jason Miner now tackle the
difficult task of filling the spots the seniors leave behind and the Aggies
ended their season 7-44 and 2-13 in the Heartland Conference.

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Laura Nelson
Oklahoma Panhandle State Univ.