SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Rogers State softball team posted two easy victories and notched its first win of the season over a ranked opponent Friday at the Evangel University Tournament in Springfield, Mo.
 
The Hillcats topped No. 21 William Penn, 7-1, in the first game of the day and sailed past Lyon College for a 10-1 run-rule victory in the nightcap. The second day of the tournament was rained out.

GAME ONE (vs. William Penn)
 
Freshman Linsey Curtis powered the Hillcats to victory and etched her name into the record books with two home runs against William Penn.
 
The Collinsville, Okla., product belted a two-run homer in the third inning and led off the fifth with a solo shot over the centerfield wall. The second blast was her 15th of the season, surpassing the previous benchmark of 14 set by Jenny Johnson in 2009. 
 
Curtis's first bomb capped a four-run third for RSU. William Penn answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but couldn't keep pace with the Cats' juggernaut offense. Curtis added her second homer in the fifth and Shelby Brogdon tacked on a mammoth solo shot to left in the top of the seventh. 
 
Tye Coats (12-4) turned in a dominant complete-game performance. She scattered four hits across seven innings and allowed just one run while striking out nine. Monica Villarreal suffered the loss for William Penn.

GAME TWO (vs. Lyon College)
 
A nine-run fourth inning keyed the Hillcats' short-game win over Lyon College in the nightcap Friday.
 
Junior Taryn Hernandez swatted two home runs in the inning and also tossed five innings of scoreless relief to record the pitching victory. Hernandez led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer to give RSU a 2-1 lead. Brogdon added a three-run bomb to clear the bases before Hernandez's second at-bat of the frame. The Moreno Valley, Calif., native cranked her second big fly of the inning to make it an eight-run game.
 
Hernandez (7-1) relived Coats in the bottom of the first inning and kept Lyon College off the scoreboard the rest of the way. She yielded only two hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Junior Sarah Harvey and freshman Brittany White joined Hernandez with three hits on the afternoon. 
 
Rogers State (19-5) will have a week off before returning home to host Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tues. March 23.