The Tiger softball team picked up a pair of non-conference wins on Wednesday (Mar. 23) in Edmond, Okla. FHSU swept a doubleheader with Central Oklahoma, winning by scores of 1-0 and 10-5 to improve to 12-8 on the season.

Game 1: FHSU 1, Central Oklahoma 0

Box Score

Kayla Rupa threw a one-hit shutout in the first game of the twinbill, improving to 7-6 on the season. She worked around three walks and an error in a game where she only had two innings where she faced the minimum number of batters. She struck out seven Bronchos, all swinging.

Fellow pitcher Maddie Holub, who played left field in the first game, helped Rupa's cause by producing the game's only run on a solo homer to lead off the sixth, her second homer of the season.

Rachael Steverson took the loss for UCO, also throwing a complete game with just four hits and one walk allowed. She struck out eight batters.

Game 2: FHSU 10, Central Oklahoma 5

Box Score

An error with two outs in the first inning gave Central Oklahoma an early 2-0 lead, but a two-run Malinee Powell home run in the fourth evened the score. 

The FHSU offense errupted in the fifth. With one out, the Tigers notched six consecutive hits (four singles, a double, then another single), which led to six runs in the inning. Erin Dyok pushed the first run of the inning across with her bases loaded single, then Kayla Rupa followed with a two-RBI double. Britney Workman's single plated two more runs, the first credited as an RBI and the second scoring on an error by the outfielder. Callie Wright pushed the final run of the inning across with an RBI groundout.

Rupa picked up another RBI in the sixth on a sacrifice fly RBI. Danie Brinkmann had the final RBI of the game in the seventh on a single.

Maddie Holub picked up the win for FHSU, throwing 5.0 innings. She took a 9-3 lead into the sixth, but gave up a two-run homer with no outs before head coach Julie LeMaire opted for Kayla Rupa to finish the game. Rupa did not allow a hit the rest of the way. Holub allowed seven hits with two walks, while striking out two. She moved to 5-2 with the win.

The Tigers begin conference play this weekend at home when they host 24th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha on Friday at 2 pm and then Northwest Missouri State on Saturday at 12 pm.