WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The Newman softball team went 1-1 on its opening day. The Jets used a strong seventh inning to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State, 5-2, and then fell to University of Sciences and Arts by the score of 8-6 in the nightcap on Friday (Feb. 6).
It's the third straight season the Jets have won their season-opening game. With the 5-2 victory over SWOSU, NU head coach
Mike Viramontez got his first win as a collegiate head softball coach.
Newman 5, SWOSU 2
NU scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to get a 5-2 win over host SWOSU in the first game. Trailing 2-0 doing into the inning,
Kelsey Jones erased the deficit with a two-run home run to tie the score at 2-2.
Jensen Cromer put the Jets up with a two-RBI single up the middle.
Taylor Mannis and
Madison Bish came in to score for the 4-2 NU lead. Another single up the middle, this time from
Courtney Sartin, made it 5-2 as Cromer scored.
Neither team could get on the scoreboard early; however, the Bulldogs plated the first run in the fifth inning with a solo homer. The advantage doubled to 2-0 in the sixth inning with a double down the line plated a run from first base.
Cromer started in the circle, going the full 7.0 innings. The sophomore got the win, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out eight Bulldogs.
Sartin, a junior from Lemoore, Calif., went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Alyssa Jarman was 2-for-4. Both Cromer and Jones were 1-for-3 with two RBI. Eight Jets got hits in the game as NU totaled 10 hits to five hits from SWOSU.
USAO 8, Newman 6
After the Jets led for the first four innings, University of Science and Arts plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to get an 8-6 win over the Jets.
Sophomore
Mikayla Medbery led off the game with an inside the park home run. NU added two runs in the top of the second inning for an early 3-0 advantage.
Katie Ingles singled to left field, scoring Jones for a 2-0 lead.
Kassidy Furr singled to center field to score
Taylor Schawe for a 3-0 NU edge.
USAO got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. A single put the base runners at the corners, but a fielding error by the Jet outfield allowed the runner at third to score, unearned. A wild pitch brought home the second run in the inning, also unearned, for a 3-2 score.
Schawe extended the NU lead to 6-2 with a three-run home run in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, USAO cut the deficit to three runs with a sac fly. USAO took an 8-6 advantage with a five-run fifth inning. The scoring in the inning started with an RBI single to left field for a 6-4 score. Another RBI single cut the deficit to only one run at 6-5. The Drovers plated three runs on a home run to left field for the game-winning runs.
Ingles got the start in the circle, going 4.1 innings and allowing seven runs, four earned, on five hits with three strikeouts. Jones pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed five hits and one run.
Schawe went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Furr was 2-for-3 with one RBI, and
Breanna Pingry went 2-for-4.
The Jets travel to Durant, Okla. for five games next weekend. NU starts with Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday (Feb. 13) at 12:30 p.m.
