SCC Eliminated From Tournament

Southern California College finished tied for fifth at the NAIA softball championships Thursday after losing to Oklahoma City, 10-0, in Broken Arrow, Okla. The fourth-seeded Vanguards stayed alive in the losers’ bracket by winning two games earlier in the day.

In the first game, SCC scored five runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to defeat Shawnee State of Portsmouth, Ohio, 6-2.

Chrissy Vega’s single drove in Noelle Sturgill with the tying run in the sixth. Sarah Waters, Valerie Irwin, Michelle Murie and Sturgill followed with RBI singles to give SCC a four-run lead.

The Vanguards (51-13) had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when Vega led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice by Waters and scored on a single to left by Heather Rogers.

Shawnee State (38-10) scored twice in the third to take the lead, but SCC pitcher Jen Houston (23-5) retired the final 13 batters to earn the victory.

The Vanguards came back to win the second game, 1-0, over Houston Baptist behind a strong pitching performance from Gretchen Brandt (23-8), who gave up two hits and struck out 11.

SCC scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Rogers led off with single and came home on Irwin’s double.

Brandt came back to pitch against Oklahoma City, but lasted only 1 1/3 innings after giving up five runs on four hits and a walk. Houston gave up five runs before the game was stopped after the fifth inning because of the mercy rule.