USAO’s Season Brought to a Close in Extra-Innings at World Series
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Friday afternoon, the No. 6 seeded University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (42-15, 25-7 SAC) had their season brought to a close at the NAIA Softball World Series, with a heart-breaking 3-2 loss in extra-innings victory against No. 10 Midland University (40-14, 16-6 GPAC).
The Drovers are appearing in their seventh NAIA Softball World Series, while the Warriors are making their fourth appearance in the tournament. USAO has appeared in four of the last five World Series tournaments and MU is making its first appearance since 2011. Midland advanced to the World Series after winning the Oklahoma City University bracket in the NAIA Opening Round.
The game featured another tremendous pitcher's dual and neither team was able to break the scoreless tie until the top of the 11th when Midland blasted a three-run homerun to capture the first lead of the game.
In the bottom of the 11th, the Drovers rallied with a couple runs, but it wasn't enough to extend the game any longer. Sophie Williams scored USAO's first run on Jaclyn Gray's double, and Gray scored on a double-steal play.
Sophie Williams suffered the loss but gave the Drovers all she could in the circle, going all 11 innings, surrendering only three runs on seven hits, and she struck out seven batters. The Sooner Athletic Conference co-Pitcher of the Year concludes her sophomore campaign with a 24-8 record and a 1.35 earned run average, while striking out 252 batters in 223.1 innings of work.
Offensively, Science & Arts produced nine hits, while holding Midland to seven hits, and neither team committed a fielding error.
The USAO offense was led by a pair of two-hit performances from Jaclyn Gray and Sierra Selfridge. Gray concluded 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and a run batted in, while Selfridge went 2-5 with a couple of singles.
Sophie Williams singled and scored, while Taygan Graham, Jaycee Kievit, Jaylee Willis, and Slater Eck each also added singles in the season finale.
2023 USAO SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES HYPE VIDEO --> WATCH HERE
THE JADYN WALLIS ARCHIVES --> WATCH HERE
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Drovers will now begin preparations for yet another successful season in the 2024 campaign. Thank you to our student-athletes, the coaches, their families, and our fans for another tremendous year of Drover Softball.
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