WICHITA, Kan. - Finally.  Newman softball finally played their first home game of the season on Wednesday afternoon as they welcomed Northwest Oklahoma State.  The Jets and Rangers played for the second time this year after a previous matchup in Alva where the Rangers swept the Jets with a walkoff win.  NWOSU took game one from the Jets 5-4 and Newman responded with a 9-7 victory in game two.

The Jets are now 5-7 overall, while NWOSU is 7-5.

Game 1:

Newman took control in the middle innings with back-to-back RBI doubles by Lindsay Mayo and Gianna Navarro in the bottom of the third.

The Rangers scraped across a run in the top of the 5th to cut the lead to just one, but the Jets wasted no time with Mackenzie Anderson smacking a two run single into right center.

Leading 4-1, the Jets took the field in the sixth.  NWOSU hit a 2-run homerun and a 2 RBI single in the inning to get a 5-4 lead that they would not surrender.

The four run inning scored the Rangers the game one victory.

Game 2:

After two complete, Newman faced a 6-1 deficit.  It looked as if the Jets were down for the count, but things took a swing when Coach Andrea Gustafson made a pitching change.  With Janine Gutierrez in the circle, the Jets yielded just one unearned run over over the final 5.1 innings.  Gutierrez punched out 4 hitters in pressure situations.  The Rangers left 7 runners on base, including leaving them loaded in the top of the fifth.

The Jets road to the comeback started with Anissa Ramos hitting an RBI double off the wall in the third inning.

Samantha Gutierrez hit her first homerun of the year in the fourth to cut the lead again.  Trailing 7-3, the Jets stranded the Rangers with bases loaded.  In the bottom half of the fifth inning, Taylor Ullery walloped a 3-run homerun into right center field.

The Jets completed the comeback with a Lindsay Mayo RBI double and a Gianna Navarro two-RBI single.

A 9-7 victory for Newman was their first win at home this season.

Up next, the Ichabods come to town on Friday, March 11.