SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 23 Angelo State Rambelles played hard against the No. 10 Oklahoma Christian Eagles, but the Eagles defense proved too much for the Rambelles as OCU defeated Angelo State 4-2 in game one, and 2-1 in game two.
Game One:
Genesis Armendariz took the circle in the top of the first inning, and with the Rambelle defense backing her up, Armendariz made quick work of the Eagles offense, striking the first batter out. The Rambelles defense quickly got two outs, with one batter grounding out to the third baseman, and the final out coming from a pop fly to the shortstop.
Ashlyn Lerma showed her speed after hitting a double into left field, quickly making it to second and beating the throw.
Courtney Barnhill stepped into the batters box, scoring Lerma after she advanced to third on the out on an error from the catcher to take a 1-0 lead over OCU.
Mykayla Stroud popped up to the third baseman on a sacrifice fly, advancing
Bailey Martinez to second after being walked.
Ashton Dirner came and pinch ran for Martinez as Barnhill hit a single to the shortstop, scoring Dirner and extending the Rambelles lead to 2-0.
The Eagles managed to score three runs in the top of the third to take the lead from Angelo State, 3-2.
Makayla Corbin came in relief of Armendariz, where she struck one batter out for the second out, and the third out came from a ground ball to the third baseman.
Corbin showed her skills as a pitcher in the top of the fifth, as one batter fouled out to the catcher. Corbin struck the next two batters out, with one swinging for the fences and the other looking as the ball passed by to give the Rambelles another chance at bat.
The Eagles managed to score one more run in the top of the sixth off of a double hit down the right field line to bring their lead to 4-2 over Angelo State. The Rambelles attempted to score to take the win over the Eagles, but the Eagles defense proved too much for Angelo State as Oklahoma Christian defeated ASU in game one, 4-2.
Key Players:
- Lerma had three at-bats, scoring one run and registering two hits against the Eagles.
- Barnhill had three at-bats, registering one hit and one RBI for the Rambelles.
- Armendariz pitched for 2.1 innings, throwing one strikeout against 13 batters faced.
- Corbin pitched in relief of Armendariz for 4.2 innings, throwing four strikeouts against 23 batters faced.
Game Two:
Oklahoma Christian scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Rambelles dug in and secured the last two outs with an unassisted out by the first baseman and a ground ball to the pitcher for the final out of the inning to send ASU to the batters box.
Armendariz went three up, three down in the top of the second, with the first out coming from a fly ball out to the right fielder, the second coming from a ground ball to the first baseman for an unassisted out, and the final out coming from a grounder to the second baseman.
The Rambelles took care of the next three Eagle batters with ease in the top of the third, with the first out coming from a ground ball to the third baseman. The second out came from a grounder to the shortstop, and the final out came from an unassisted grounder to the first baseman to give the Rambelles another chance to get their offense in motion.
Barnhill smacked a single into center field, stealing second base shortly afterwards in the bottom of the third inning.
Madison Fernandez also hit a single, advancing to second on the throw to catch Barnhill at home, but Barnhills speed managed to give her just enough of an edge to slide across home before the catcher could tag her, tying the game at 1-1.
Neither team scored another run until the top of the eighth inning, where the Eagles managed to score a run over ASU off of a sacrifice fly to the center fielder for an RBI to take a 2-1 lead over Angelo State. Stroud advanced
Maleya Burns to second off of a sacrifice fly, while Avery Ziegler was walked to first. Barnhill was also walked to first base, loading the bases with
Ashlynn Box to bat for the Rambelles.
Box managed to register a hit against Oklahoma Christian, but popped the ball high into the infield where it would be caught by the catcher, ending the inning and the game in favor of the Eagles, as Oklahoma Christian defeated the Rambelles in the second game, 2-1.
Key Players:
- Barnhill had three at-bats, scoring a run and registering one hit against the Eagles.
- Lerma had five at-bats, registering a hit for the Rambelles.
- Armendariz pitched for 7.1 innings against OCU, throwing two strikeouts against 24 batters faced.
Up Next:
The Rambelles travel to Portales, New Mexico and Canyon, Texas as Angelo State faces Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M in two doubleheaders. ASU will play the Greyhounds on Friday, March 12 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., then turn around and play the Buffs on Sunday, March 14 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m
