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Junior infielder, Kaity Kukowski, swings her bat to hit the ball to the UCM Jennies on Tuesday, Apr. 9, 2019. Kukowski has the lead stats with 27 RBIs and 8 home runs. Hannah Meier

Softball competes in Edmond Regional Festival

The softball team played four games over the weekend in the Edmond Regional Festival. Games one and two were on Saturday, Feb. 8 against Oklahoma Christian and Southwestern Oklahoma (SWOSU). The Gorillas lost the first game (9-10) but managed to battle back and defeat SWOSU (15-13) the second game. Games three and four were on Sunday, Feb. 9 against Colorado Christian and Cameron. The Gorillas lost both games (1-9, 5-7).  

Head coach Ashley Balazs says that despite the losses the team played well in some respects.   

“Our offense did a good job coming alive three out of the four games which was something we needed to do after opening weekend when we started a little bit slow,” Balazs said. “So, it was great to see… (us) moving runners along, and then a lot of hard hits and a lot of extra base hits. Katie K and Goswick had huge weekends for us at the plates so we’re looking to add a few more this weekend. But offensively we did a really, really good job.”  

In the game against SWOSU, sophomore Keelah Griffith and senior Kaity Kukowski each made two runs and sophomore Kylee Bohle added one. Kukowski recorded four RBIs, Griffith had three, and Bohle added two. Griffith, Kukowski, Bohle, and senior Makenzie Goswick all had two hits apiece. Senior Madison Wegner had eight putouts, Goswick had six, and Griffith and senior Makayla Lamphier each added one. Lamphier had three assists and Wegner, Goswick, and Griffith each had one assist.  

In the game against Cameron, Goswick had five RBIs. Goswick had made three hits and Griffith, Kukowski, and Wegner each added one apiece. Goswick recorded a total of 18 putouts, Wegner had four, Lamphier had two, and Kukowski had one. Lamphier had 10 assists and Kukowski had three.  

A couple of players stood out to Balazs over the course of the weekend.   

“Makenzie and Kaity Kukowski (stood out to me),” Balazs said. “They both had big weekends. Katie had… 13 runs in four games and that’s pretty impressive. Goswick, not only did she have great stat line, but she was clutch for us and that’s hard to do in our game… She was at her best when the game was big. So, great weekends for them.”  

Balazs hopes to see the team continue to improve.   

“Really, for us this upcoming weekend is just to put it all together,” Balazs said. “We want our pitchers to get less hits (and) get easy outs. Defensively, we need to make sure we’re challenging every ball… (and) just being a little bit more engaged. Hitters, we just need to… stay in control of our bats and focus on when we’re gonna hit and what we’re gonna hit. For us coaches, we just need to keep putting them in positions to be successful.”  

The softball team has four upcoming games in the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville. The first two games on Saturday, Feb. 15 against Maryville at 2 p.m. and then against Southern Arkansas at 4 p.m. The last two games are on Sunday, Feb. 16 against Missouri- St. Louis at 10 a.m. and then Southeastern Oklahoma at noon.  

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