OKLAHOMA CITY — Going back and forth in a pitcher's duel, the Newman softball team fell to Oklahoma Christian 2-1 Friday morning in the finale of their Heartland Conference series.

KEY SEQUENCE

Neither team was able to get much going offensively, but the Eagles (24-18, 14-7 Heartland) used small ball to take the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth against the Jets (8-33, 3-19 Heartland). OC earned a leadoff walk, bunted the runner to second and moved her to third on a groundout before a single to left plated the winning run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Newman starter Nique Payne got out of a jam in the bottom of the first, getting three outs with the bases loaded to keep things scoreless. Abby Davis doubled with one out in the second to get the Jets a chance, but she was stranded at third.

-A leadoff home run in the bottom of the third staked the hosts to a lead. A pair of walks threatened to open the game a bit more, but the Jets got the final two outs to limit the damage. That gave Newman a chance to tie in the fourth, which they did thanks to singles from Taylor Mannis and Emma Eck. An RBI groundout by Davis knotted the game at 1-1.

-Neither team had a great chance to score again until the Eagles worked their run around in the sixth, and OC pitcher Madison Hagood retired the final 11 batters she faced to help seal the narrow win.

NOTES

-Payne allowed just four hits over six innings while striking out a pair of OC batters.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets travel to take on Emporia State in a nonconference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.