March 12, 2010

Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

SHREVEPORT, La. - Junior Marisa Everitt went the distance, fanning nine batters in seven innings and freshman Alivia Nikolaus went 3-4 in the nightcap, as the Oakland University softball team (7-14, 1-1 Summit League) split their double-header against Centenary College (7-10, 1-1 Summit League), with the Ladies taking the first game 8-1 and the Golden Grizzlies rebounding with an 8-1 win of their own Friday evening at the Centenary College Softball Complex.

"That second game was a good win for us," said assistant coach Jane Zimmerman. "The girls really came together and we played like we knew we could. We need to come out with that same intensity in tomorrow's game."

In the first game, Oakland scored their lone run in the first inning, when senior Katie Dreyer drove in sophomore Kelsey Krych to give Oakland the 1-0 advantage. After taking a 4-1 lead after five innings, the Ladies' bats fired up in the sixth, scoring four straight runs to give them an 8-1 lead.

OU was in prime scoring position to get on the board in the seventh inning with freshman Erin Galloway on third with two outs, but was unable to make it home, giving Centenary the first game with an 8-1 victory. OU scored one run off three hits, committing no errors while Centenary tallied eight runs off 13 hits with one error.

The nightcap saw a reversal of fortune for the Golden Grizzlies, as the Black and Gold exploded offensively in the first inning, notching five runs off six, including back-to-back doubles by junior Danielle Peters and Dreyer, and went through the entire batting order before taking an early 5-0 lead after the top of the first.

Senior Haley Emerson knocked out a two-run homer in the second inning, her first ball to leave the yard this season, to build OU's lead to 7-0. But Centenary would counter with a home run of its own in the bottom of the second to put the Ladies on the board 7-1.

That would be the only time the Ladies would score, however, and OU added one more in the fourth off an RBI from senior Ashley Sullivan. Everitt would then pitch a hitless game for the remaining four innings to give Oakland the 8-1 win. The Golden Grizzlies scored eight runs off 13 hits with no errors and the Ladies added one run off two hits with one error.

OU will look to take its first league series of the season on Saturday, March 13 with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

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