Softball Wins Final Pair

February 15, 2009

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Southwestern Oklahoma State University ended its six-game stint at the Angelo State Softball Invitational in impressive fashion winnings its final two games with a 7-4 victory over Missouri Western and an 8-3 win over Fort Hays State.

The victories improved the Bulldogs to 2-4 on the season. They will next play in another six-game festival at Southeastern Oklahoma State University beginning on Friday.

Against Missouri Western, SWOSU jumped out to a 4-0 early lead only to see the Griffons close within one run. SWOSU put the game away with a two-run seventh inning.  The Bulldogs blistered Missouri Western with 12 hits as four different players had two hits in the game - Stacey Creger, Katie Raines, Sarah Harwell and Meghan Browning.

Raines picked up the win on the mound in her first collegiate start. She pitched five innings, scattered five hits and allowed three runs, only one of which was earned. She got help from Alex Zukerman who pitched a scoreless final one and one-thirds of an inning to pick up the save.

Zukerman was the hitting and pitching hero of the win against Fort Hays. She worked the first four innings against the Tigers and allowed only two earned runs before giving way to reliever Kaci Carpenter. Carpenter yielded just one run in the final three innings while giving up just five hits to pick up the win.

At the plate, Zukerman was two-for-four and blasted a three-run homer in the top of the seventh that put game away for the Bulldogs.

SWOSU did the bulk of its scoring in the sixth when they scored five runs after having the first two batters ground into outs. The Bulldogs strung together six consecutive hits with pinch hitter Kristina Davis clubbing a bases-loaded double that scored two runners as the innings biggest hit.