CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State managed just eight hits but made each one count as the Hillcats swept a pair of extra inning games from Bacone College at the Hillcat Complex Wednesday.
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Kelli Dunagan pitched an eight-inning shutout in the first game of the day and Lillian Nevarez squeezed home the only run for a 1-0 victory. RSU overcame a 2-1 deficit in the nightcap to claim a 3-2 win. Nevarez scored the game-winning run on a single by Katie Bointy in the bottom of the eighth to secure the series sweep for the Hillcats
GAME ONE
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RSU left six runners stranded before finally pushing home the winning run in the eighth. Mandy Clark started the bottom of the eighth at second base via the international tie-breaker. Sarah Walkup sacrificed her to third and Nevarez executed a perfect squeeze bunt to break the scoreless tie.
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Dunagan tossed a gem with a complete-game shutout of the Lady Warriors. She allowed just two hits and fanned four Bacone hitters to pick up her eighth victory of the season. The sophomore from Collinsville also had two of the Cats four hits in the contest. Nevarez contributed a hit and the game's only RBI while Marie Gaudet added a single in the third inning.
GAME TWO
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Bacone took a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning with the help of two errors by the Hillcat infield. Alex Ramirez and Lindsey Glass both scored on a two-out error by shortstop Lauren Looper. Dunagan relieved RSU starter Jenny Johnson and recorded the final out of the inning to minimize the damage.
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Megan Wood drew a walk to start the bottom of the seventh and scored the tying run on a two-out single to right field by Sara Walkup. Bointy proved to be the hero in Game 2 with a walk-off infield single to score Nevarez. Walkup belted two of the Hillcats four hits while Bointy and Randi Tyler each tallied a hit and an RBI.
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Dunagan (9-3) pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn her second win of the day. She gave up two hits without allowing a run. Johnson worked 5.2 innings and scattered three hits while giving up two unearned runs.
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Rogers State (13-3) improved to 4-1 in extra inning games this season. The Hillcats will compete in the Lady Bison Classic at Oklahoma Baptist University this weekend in Shawnee. RSU opens pool play against Southwestern College on Friday at 2 p.m.
