Drovers Advance to SAC Tournament Championship Game for Fifth Season in a Row

CHICKASHA, Okla. – Saturday afternoon, the No. 2 seeded University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (38-13, 25-7 SAC) advanced to the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship game for the fifth consecutive season, with a 4-3 extra-inning victory against No. 6 seed Southwestern Assemblies of God University (22-26-1, 13-19 SAC).

With the four wins, the Drovers improve to 38-0 against the Lions in the all-time series, which dates back to April 11, 2014. USAO emerged victorious in all five meetings this season, outscoring the Lions by a total of 36-10.

After the Lions scored one run in the top of the first inning, followed by the Drovers capturing an early lead with one run in the bottom of first inning, followed by two more in the bottom of the second. 

The score remained 3-1 until the top of the sixth inning, when SAGU pushed across a pair of runs to tie the game.

The game remained knotted at 3-3 until the bottom of the ninth when USAO loaded the bases and scored the winning run on a walk by Taygan Graham.

As a team, the Drovers strung together 12 hits, but they struggled to bring runners home, as they left 11 runners left on base. Six different players recorded hits in the win, led by Malea McMurtrey and Sierra Selfridge's three-hit performances.

McMurtrey concluded 3-5 with a double and two runs scored, while Selfridge went 3-4 with a walk and a run batted in.

Jaclyn Gray had a solid offensive performance, going 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and two runs batted in. Slater Eck finished 2-4 with a double and a run scored. 

Lauryn Cottrell went 1-2 with a pair of walks, and Jaycee Kievit went 1-4 with a single.

Sophie Williams went all 9.0 innings and only surrendered three earned runs and six hits, while striking out eight batters. Williams improved her record to 20-6 with a 1.39 earned run average and she has struck out 227 batters in 176.1 innings.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Science & Arts will face No. 1 Oklahoma City University in the SAC Tournament championship game on Sunday, May 7. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM at Ann Lacy Stadium, located on the campus of Oklahoma City University. 

Stay up to date on all Science & Arts Athletics news by following us on our media platforms!

Athletics Website: www.usaoathletics.com

Live-stream: www.sacsportsnetwork.com/usao

YouTube: Drover Athletics

Twitter: @DroverAthletics

Facebook: @DroverAthletics

Instagram: @drover_athletics

GIPHY: www.giphy.com/USAODrovers