The Lions went 5-1 last weekend at the Seven State Classic in Bentonville, Ark.

In the first game of the weekend on Fri, Feb. 15, the Lions took on Arkansas Monticello.

The game got off to a slow start, but by the third inning, the Lions got two runs on the board by junior Brooke Smith and freshman Michala Wood. Arkansas Monticello answered back with two runs in the bottom of the third, and took the lead in the fourth.

In the sixth inning the Lions got a run with the RBI from Haley Pypes who was pinch hitting for Haley Kinnison, bringing Shelby Romines across the plate.

Early in the eighth inning, the Lions came out ready to go.

Junior Brooklyn Farrell would come in to pinch-run for catcher Kathryn Goins, while freshman Lexie Gardner would get an RBI and bring Farrell across home plate.

With Garder and Wood on bases, junior Brooke Swadley hit a two-run RBI to put the Lions up 6-3.

The Lions did not let Arkansas Monticello make the come-back as the game ended with a final score of 6-5.

Later that day the Lions played Oklahoma Christian and Romines smacked a solo home run in the first inning.

That would be all the runs Oklahoma Christian gave up and the Lion’s senior pitcher Hannah Cooke threw the entire game with four strikeouts.

The Lion’s defeated Oklahoma Christian 1-0.

The Lions played another two games on Feb. 16, the first game against Illinois-Springfield.

The Lions racked up some runs and won the game 12-3.

Freshman Haley Pypes pitched well with seven strikeouts, and she was also successfully on offense with two RBIs.

Romines had 5 RBIs with another homerun this game.

After a long game against Illinois-Springfield, the Lions went onto play Rockhurst.

By the bottom of the fifth, Rockhurst was up 4-0, but the Lions attempt of a comeback was not enough. The final score came to 4-1 after Farrell hit a double to left field that brought freshman Sara Stearns across home plate.

“We were a victim of circumstance, we had to play back to back, and our first game lasted two hours and forty-five minutes when they usually only last an hour and a half,” said Head Coach Bill Gray.

The Lions had another two games on Sunday, where they would leave their final mark at the Seven State Classic.

The Lions first match up was against Ouachita Baptist. After two members of the Lions grounded out, Romines came up to bat and hit her fourth home run of season. Following Romines, senior Dawn grass hit another homerun to give the Lions the lead.

“She (Romines) had big home runs when we needed them. She and Dawn Grass both homered back to back in our first home game Sunday against Ouachita Baptist,” said Gray.

Pypes pitched another good game with seven strike outs; the Lions won the game 6-2.

For the last game of the weekend, the Lions played a long game against Southern Nazarene. The game got off to a quick start with both teams scoring four runs in the first inning, then the Lions scoring five more runs in the second. Freshman Alana Hester was a large help offensively for the Lions.

“Alana Hester who bats in the lead off and puts pressure on folks, hit 331, but she was eight for nine in stolen bases which is awesome,” said Gray.  

By the seventh inning the score was 13-12. The Lions would add on one more run and only allow Southern Nazarene to get one run to keep the win. Kinnison, Cooke, and Sarah Williams combined pitched a tough game. Not only was there a combined effort from the pitches, but from the team as a whole.

“We’ve got a real good group of girls,” said Grey, “They’ve got a good personality, they work hard, and they understand what we are trying to get done.”

This weekend, Southern will compete in the Central Oklahoma tournament.