Box Score
EMPORIA, Kan. (May 15) – Central Oklahoma fell behind early and couldn't answer back in having its 2010 season ended with a 7-2 setback to Texas Woman's here Saturday evening in an NCAA Division II South Central Regional elimination game.
The Bronchos trailed 2-0 after one inning and 4-0 after three, then had a fourth-inning rally curtailed before TWU put the game away. UCO, which lost to Angelo State 4-0 in Friday's first round, ended the season 32-21.
The Pioneers (39-21) moved on to face host Emporia State in a loser's bracket finals game, with the winner of that set to take on ASU in Sunday's finals.
“It's always disappointing when you lose your last game and we're obviously all down right now, but this team had a great season,” UCO coach Genny Stidham said. “I didn't really know what to expect from this bunch, so to win 32 games and make it to the national tournament is really special.
“We've got a lot of key players coming back next year and we can look forward to that.”
The Bronchos, who beat TWU three times during the regular season and again in last week's Lone Star Conference Tournament, never recovered after the Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
TWU upped its advantage to 4-0 in the third and then staved off UCO's biggest threat in the fourth.
The Bronchos quickly loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Niki Hunt and Brittany Weaver and a walk to Brittany Geter, with Kayce Raines' RBI single up the middle and Megan Bentley's bases-loaded walk making it 4-2. But UCO could do no more damage as the Pioneers used a double play and groundout to get out of the inning.
TWU pushed across two more runs in the fifth to up its lead to 6-2 and added an insurance run in the sixth.
The Bronchos, who left the bases loaded in the third, stranded two runners in both the sixth and seventh innings in failing to mount a late rally.
Raines went 3-for-3 to lead an eight-hit attack, while Molly Shivers added two hits.
It was the final game for four seniors – Shivers, Hunt, Kelsey Tiger and Brittany Zimmerman.
