Late Rally Falls Short

4/21/2012 8:34:00 PM

Devyn Frazier

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
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EDMOND (April 21) – This time, Central Oklahoma's late-inning rally fell agonizingly short.

The No. 3-ranked Bronchos saw their record 35-game winning streak come to a halt here Saturday afternoon against No. 14 Emporia State, getting the tying run thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning to drop a crazy 15-14 decision in the second game of a doubleheader.

UCO pulled out a 3-2 first-game victory on Megan Whitmire's tie-breaking solo home run in the sixth – the third time in the last four games the Bronchos had scored the winning runs in the sixth inning or later – before ESU prevailed in the nightcap.

It was UCO's first loss since Feb. 17 and dropped the Bronchos to 37-4. The 35 consecutive wins is 20 victories more than the previous school record and ties for fifth-longest winning streak in NCAA Division II history.

UCO rallied from 3-0 and 8-4 deficits to take a 12-8 lead in the nightcap before the Hornets hit a pair of three-run homers in exploding for seven sixth-inning runs to take a 15-12 lead.

The Bronchos nearly pulled out another improbable victory in their final at bat before coming up just short.

Kaylee Brunson led off with an infield single, Kacie Edwards kept the inning alive with a two-out single and Megan Whitmire reached on an error that scored Brunson to make it 15-13.

Brittany Weaver followed with a single to left field to load the bases and Ashley Noles came through with a clutch single to right field that looked like it would tie the game, but pinch-runner Kailee Roe was thrown out on a close play at the plate and the Bronchos suffered their first home loss in 20 tries.

The two teams combined for 33 hits and eight errors in the wild back-and-forth contest, with the Hornets outhitting UCO 20-13.

Weaver led the Bronchos with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate, while Noles (3-for-4) and Hannah Justus (2-for-4) drove in four runs apiece. Justus' three-run double in the fourth keyed a five-run volley that gave UCO a 12-8 lead.

The Bronchos fell behind 2-0 in the first inning of the opener, getting a run back in its initial at bad on Nathalie Timmermans' run-scoring single.

UCO finally tied it in the fifth as Kayce Raines came through with a sacrifice fly to score Justus, who had reached on a one-out error, and Whitmire put the Bronchos on top when she led off the sixth with a high fly ball just over the left field fence.

ESU tried to rally with a pair of two-out hits in the top of the seventh, but Rachael Steverson got a fly ball to close out the complete-game win. It was the 20th victory of the year for the senior hurler, making her just the third pitcher in school history with 20 wins in a season.

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