(April 12, 2025) Altus, Oklahoma - After Thursday's doubleheader loss to #2 Murray State, the ladies hit the road on Friday for Western Oklahoma State College. The ladies have hit the point in their region schedule of having to play the top teams in Region II. The Bucks entered the doubleheader at 12-2 in region play, while the Lady Pioneers were 18-2.

The Bucks held a 1-0 lead in the first game of the day on a Mallory Cheek (Lumberton, TX) solo home run, but Western hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to get the 2-1 win to start the day. In the second game, the Bucks held a 10-2 lead mid-way through the game, but the Lady Pioneers would chip away and score 6 in the bottom of the 6th inning to tie the contest at 10-10. Kyson Vap (Newkirk, OK) hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but the Lady Pioneers tied the game in the bottom half to force extras. After a scoreless eighth, the Bucks hit back-to-back triples by Linley Collins (Whitesboro, OK) and Kate Daigle (Rayne, LA) to take an 12-11 lead and held on to get the win. 

Offensively, the ladies scored 13 runs on 22 hits. Nineteen of the hits came in the second game. Both teams combined for 35 hits in the game. Joining Cheek & Vap in the home run category was Jaliyah Simmons (Muskogee, OK) with 2 bombs and Lindsey Smyth (Mansfield, TX). Simmons drove in 4 runs on the day with a double and scored a pair of runs. She is now 2 runs away from tying the season runs record at UARM and currently has 15 home runs on the season. The season record for home runs is 19. 

Smyth drove in 2 runs in the second game. Hayden White (Red Oak, OK) also drove in a pair of runs on 3 hits with a double. 

In the first game, Lindsey Smyth (4-1) took the complete game loss, her first of the season. In the second game, the Bucks used three pitchers in the win. Maggie Pate (Hughes Springs, TX) got the start and no decision. Holly Raney (Mayflower, AR) pitched the middle innings, but Addisyn Wright (Buffalo Valley, OK) pitched the final 3.1innings, getting the extra innings win. Wright (8-3) gave up 3 runs on 5 hits in the win. 

The Bucks will now return home for a doubleheader on Tuesday against Carl Albert before travelling to National Park on Thursday. 

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