USAO Athletics
Justin Tinder, Sports Information Director
DODGE CITY, Kan. – The USAO softball team won its opening round game in the NAIA Regional in Dodge City, Kan. with a 3-0 blanking of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
The win improved USAO to 51-4 on the year. The Drovers will next play Midland (NE) at 11 a.m. CST on Tuesday. Midland was 1-0 winner earlier in the day over Jamestown (ND).
Emily Cerny (FR/Newcastle, OK) tossed her third no hitter of the season while she struck out a season-high 13 batters. She did not allow a walk while improving her overall record to 27-4 on the year.
“Emily Cerny was on point today and made a statement going forward in this opening round playoff,” Coach Jadyn Wallis said. “We had some timely hits when we needed them which really took the pressure off our defense and let them play relaxed.”
USAO scored its first run of the game in the third when Chloe Clifton (SR/Wayne, OK) hit a ground ball that was misplayed by an Eagle infielder allowing Keely Kingsly (JR/Oklahoma City, OK) to score.
The Drovers made it 2-0 in the fourth when Cerny singled up the middle to score Georgia Griffith(FR/Sentinel, OK). Grifith was running for Shania Beck (SR/Pauls Valley, OK) who reached on base by a misplayed groundball, one of five errors committed by OKWU.
USAO added its last run in the bottom of the sixth when Alyson Clemence (FR/Washington, OK) scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.