Williams Delivers 3rd Perfect Game of the Season as #6 USAO Extends Win Streak to 17

CHICKASHA, Okla. – Friday afternoon, the No. 6 ranked University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (36-7, 27-5 SAC) extended their win streak to 17 with another double-header sweep against Central Christian College (15-28, 8-24 SAC). The Drovers claimed a 7-0 victory in Friday's first game, prior to earning an exhillerating 2-1 walk-off win in the series finale. 

On Thursday, the Drovers opened the series with an 8-0 win, followed by a 7-0 triumph in game two.

Additionally, the Drovers have commanded the all-time series against the Tigers, going 25-0 since March 16, 2018.

-GAME 3-

After a bit of a slow start at the plate, the Drovers quickly turned things around and cruised to a 7-0 victory in the first game of the day. 

The game began with two scoreless innings, and the Drovers claimed the first lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning, courtesy of a pair of RBI-doubles from Sierra Selfridge and Jadyn Goucher. 

USAO extended the lead to 3-0 with one run in the fifth inning, prior to scoring their final four runs in the sixth.

As a team, USAO reached the bases on 11 hits and one walk, while the Tigers tallied three hits and one walk. Both teams committed a pair of fielding errors in the series opener. 

For the second weekend in a row, Sophie Williams delivered a perfect game in the circle for USAO, which is her third of the season and fifth of her marvelous career. She has also recorded three no-hitters in her career, one of which came earlier this season. Additionally, Williams has not surrendered a run in her last 26.0 innings pitched. During the scoreless streak, she has struck out 51 batters. 

On Friday, she improved her record to 20-4 as she struck out 13 batters while allowing zero baserunners in 7.0 innings of work. 

This season, Williams owns a 0.91 earned run average and she has struck out 203 batters in 138.2 innings pitched. 

Williams had Shaquille O'Neal sized shoes to fill when she became the Drovers ace, following the greatest pitcher in NAIA history, Emily Cerny. Despite having such a major role to fill, Williams has done far better than what anyone could have realistically expected. Since coming to USAO as a freshman in 2022, Williams has produced a 62-17 win-loss record, along with a 1.29 ERA and 641 strikeouts in 503.1 innings of work. She has accumulated two NAIA All-American selections, two All-SAC selections, the 2023 SAC Pitcher of the Year award, nine SAC Pitcher of the Week awards, and two NAIA Pitcher of the Week awards. Should Williams be fortunate enough to claim the SAC Pitcher of the Year award next month, it would be the seventh year in a row that a Drover has claimed the recognition.

-GAME 4-

Every great team occasionally has to grind out wins, and that is exactly what the scrapy Drovers did in the series finale against the Tigers.

Central Christian quickly jumped out to an early lead with their only run of the series coming in the top of the first inning. The Tigers remained in front until the Drovers tied the score with Jaylee Willis' RBI-single in the bottom of the second inning. 

The score remained knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning when Taygan Graham came through with the walk-off single to center field to drive in the game winning run. 

As a team, the Drovers reached the bases on seven hits and one fielding error committed by the Tigers. Meanwhile, the CCC tallied four hits and reached on one USAO fielding error. 

Seven different Drovers recorded hits in the win. Leighanne Eaton doubled, while the team received singles from Malea McMurtrey, Kamryn James, Sierra Selfridge, Shaylann Grace, Jaylee Willis, and Taygan Graham. 

Furthermore, McMurtrey extended her hit-streak to 13 games, and during that span she is batting 23-38 (.605) with two doubles, 20 runs scored, nine runs batted in, and nine stolen bases. 

USAO was led by another stellar pitching performance, as Terra Funk and Jayden Anderson combined to only allow one run in the win. Funk got her first start of the season and surrendered only one run in 4.1 innings of work. Jayden Anderson relieved Funk for the final 2.2 innings and earned the win to improve her record to 11-2 so far this season. This season, Anderson has produced a 1.86 earned run average and she has struck out 89 batters in 94.1 innings.

SWINGIN' IT AND SLINGIN' IT

The Drovers are one of the NAIA's most complete teams, ranking in the top 10 of several major categories on offense as well as defense.

OFFENSE

• 2^nd – HOME RUNS (42)
• 4^th – RUNS BATTED IN (270)
• 5^th – RUNS SCORED (299)
• 5^th – TOTAL BASES (622)
• 5^th – STOLEN BASES (130)
• 6^th – SLUGGING PCT. (.536)
• 9^th – HITS (405)
• 10^th – EXTRA BASE HITS (120)

PITCHING

• 2^nd – STRIKEOUTS (333)
• 5^th – EARNED RUN AVERAGE (1.35)
• 6^th – WHIP (0.92)

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Drovers will wrap up the regular season on April 28-29 with a four-game series on the road at OPSU in Goodwell, Okla. Sunday's series open is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM CT, followed by a noon start time for Monday's twin-bill.

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