OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Ottawa University softball team won its final two games of the Hosea Bell Red Dirt Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Braves defeated Oklahoma Panhandle State University 8-6 and won 3-2 over Mid-America Christian University.

OPSU
Ottawa struck first, taking the lead in the top of the first inning. Riley Newbold reached first on a walk. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and stole third to give OU a runner 60 feet from home. Allison Kearney reached first in an error by the Aggie second baseball and Newbold scored to give OU a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Ottawa's offense scored four runs on three hits and one error to take a 5-0 lead over OPSU. The Braves pushed two more runs across home plate in the top of the fifth. Cierra Faubion led OU off with an infield single. Macey Morris bunted and reached first on an error by the OPSU third baseman.

Faubion took advantage of the miscue and scored, giving the Braves a 6-0 lead. On that same error, Morris moved to second. She then swiped third and scored on a single to center by Newbold and OU had a 7-0 lead.

OPSU cut into the Brave lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, 7-2. Ottawa earned one of those runs back in the top of the sixth. Nayely Delgado walked and then moved to second on a single to left by Aliks Serna. Morris scored Delgado and the Braves had an 8-2 lead.

The Aggies tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth, scoring four runs but that is all the closer OPSU would get to the Braves as OU took the 8-6 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Cierra Faubion, Aliks Serna, Katie Enneking, and Riley Newbold had two hits apiece.
• Macey Morris led OU with three RBI.
• Ashlynn Mercer pitched 5.2 innings in the win, striking out two.
• Loralei Gilbert pitched the final 2.1, only allowing one hit.

MACU
The Braves took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Riley Newbold was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Katie Enneking's ground out to second put Newbold on third. Ottawa took the lead on Allison Kearney's infield single. Newbold crossed home plate and OU had a 1-0 lead.

Mid-America Christian tied the game with the run in the top of the second, 1-1. The Braves answered in their bottom half of the inning. Kelcie Kippes led OU off with a single to right. Cierra Faubion's infield single put runners on first and second. Newbold moved Kippes to third with a fly out and the Braves now had runners at the corners. OU then executed a double steal, Kippes scored and Faubion swiped second to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. Enneking pushed the Brave lead to 3-1 on a single down the right field line that scored Faubion.

That is where the score stayed until the top of the seventh. The Evangels scored one run to cut OU's lead to 3-2. But with two outs, Kippes got the final out with a ground out by the MACU pinch hitter and OU took the 3-2 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Ottawa had seven players with one hit apiece.
• Katie Enneking and Allison Kearney each finished with one RBI.
• Kelcie Kippes pitched seven innings in the win, striking out two.

Who is Next
Ottawa (13-3) will now travel to Springfield, Mo. on Monday, March 6 to play Evangel University in a double header. Game one is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.