Softball 'Cats tamed by Bacone

SAGU bright spots; Poovey, Johnson

Lady Lions play Okies in Sat. twinbill

MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma -- Bacone College scored three runs in each of the first three innings and went on to hand Southwestern Assemblies of God University a 9-1 defeat in women's softball at Warrior Field on Friday evening.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at noon. The second game will begin at approximately 2:00pm.

Bacone (BAY-kohn) improved their overall record to 17-19 and their league record to 12-7 in the Red River Athletic Conference. They solidified their fourth place mark with their third win in a row. They are 8-5 in the last month.

SAGU slipped to 2-21 in all games, including a 1-19 ledger against RRAC teams. Their home finale is Tuesday against Texas College (1-21, 1-13 in RRAC).

The Lady Lions, who are 1-15 in road games in their inaugural campaign, collected two hits. Freshman pitcher Lauren Johnson (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) collected the first when she stroked a two-out, infield single to third base in the third inning.

She was stranded when the Warriors' top hurler Taylor Paulson fanned Bree Lawrence (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS).

Southwestern broke Paulson’s bid for her sixth shutout in the fifth.

Kasey Poovey (Nevada, Tx / Community HS) led off with a flair to shallow rightfield. She advanced a base on a ground out by Loni Jimenez (Crystal City, Tx / Crystal City HS). While Shannen Davis (Kremlin, Ok / Kremlin-Hillsdale HS) was at bat, Paulson uncorked a pair of wild pitches that sent Poovey to third and then across the dish. Davis popped up to first and Kayla Westbrook (Milano, Tx / Milano HS) went down swinging to end the game.

Paulson, 14-9 on the season, took advantage of the Lions’ penchant for aggressive at bats; SAGU swings early in the count. The team averages 1.4 walks per game.

Her complete game (five innings) win required just 57 pitches (11 per inning). She allowed two hits, struck out six (five swinging) and did not issue a walk.

The junior, who is seventh in the RRAC with a 3.49 ERA, permitted only three balls to leave the infield; a second inning fly out to right by Jimenez, a Kelsea Svochak (Ft. Worth, Tx / Bethesda Christian HS) fly to left in the fourth, and Poovey’s bloop to shallow right in the fifth.

The Lions best at-bat came in the fourth frame. After Svochak flew to left, slugger Chelsey Doyle (Seattle, Wa / Shorecrest HS) ripped a line-drive that was snared by the BC second bagger junior Sam Campbell.

Johnson struggled early, yielding three runs on three hits, hit a pair of batters and walked one – all in the first inning. A throw home from rightfield missed the cutoff allowing a pair of runners to advance, keying the rally.

Johnson escaped further damage by recovering to get the final two batters to fly to right and to ground to short. It left the bases loaded.

A three-run homer over the leftfield fence by senior Ashley Covington, her fourth dinger of the season, staked the Warriors to a 6-0 lead in the second.

Bacone tacked on three more with a two-out rally in the third. A throwing error by the Lady Lions’ second baseman preceded a walk and a wild pitch. Two softly hit flairs that just cleared the infield took advantage of the SAGU miscues.

The Tribe’s rally was cut short when a relay by Team Purp caught a baserunner trying to advance from first to third on a hit to center. Lawrence’s throw to Jimenez was fired to Kyla Burke (Red Oak, Tx / Red Oak HS) at third. She slapped the tag on the ill-advised bid.

Johnson, the Lions’ ace, breezed through the fourth. She finished a 94-pitch performance by permitting 10 hits and three walks while striking out one. The other outs came on five ground balls that the infield converted and three fly-outs. SAGU's lone error was the throwing mistake in the third.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.