DURANT, Okla. (April 19, 2022) – Lily Wilson led the Pioneers with three hits on Tuesday, but the Texas Woman's University softball team dropped two games to Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
 
TWU (9-30, 4-20 Lone Star Conference) lost both games by a margin of just one run on Tuesday afternoon at Southeastern Softball Field. After playing eight innings in game one, the Pioneers fell 3-2. Then, TWU lost game two 2-1.
 
In their final nonconference game of the season, the Pioneers faced Southeastern (26-22, 15-12 Great American Conference) on the road in Durant, Oklahoma.
 
The doubleheader on Tuesday showed clear improvement from TWU this season.
 
The Pioneers and the Savage Storm played each other at the beginning of the season in TWU's fourth game of the season on February 7 at a neutral site in the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational. In this early season game, the Pioneers lost 5-0.
 
Fast forward two months to April 19 and the Pioneers do not leave a goose egg on the board, rather they limited the scoring of the Savage Storm and put up a combined four runs in two games.
 
In game one, TWU brought the early energy to the first inning of play. With two outs, Cecily Rodriguez stepped up and singled through the left side. Then, Jalee McDonald hit her first double of the season to score Rodriguez and give the Pioneers the starting lead.
 
On the defensive side, McDonald translated her energy as the starting pitcher. McDonald and the Pioneers defense held the Savage Storm scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when they gave up one, game-tying run. Nevertheless, the defense continued to hold strong after the fourth, as they did not give up another run in seven innings of play.
 
While the Pioneers defense was in lockdown mode, TWU's offense struggled to find the go-ahead run in regulation. As a result, the game entered extra innings with the score tied 1-1 at the end of the seventh inning.
 
In extra innings, both teams started with one runner on second base. The Pioneers scored one run in the top of the eighth inning, after McDonald singled up the middle to score pinch runner Kristin Rodriguez.
 
The Savage Storm answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to win game one by one run, 3-2.
 
As the starting pitcher, McDonald struck out three batters in seven innings. Jules Malis (4-12) pitched the eighth inning and faced three batters.
 
The Pioneers recorded six hits in the game. McDonald led the Pioneers with two hits and two RBIs. Leah Deaver recorded her fourth double of the season in game one.
 
Similar to game one, game two was also a low-scoring affair for the Pioneers. The Savage Storm hit a home run in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.
 
TWU answered the homer with a single by Leah Deaver, which allowed Wilson to score.
 
With the game tied 1-1, the Pioneers held Southeastern scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Savage Storm scored the winning run, 2-1.
 
Wilson led the Pioneers in game two with two doubles.
 
Kelsie Briggs (4-12) pitched all seven innings for the Pioneers and struck out two batters.
 
The Pioneers are back in action at home on Friday, April 22. They will play a Lone Star Conference doubleheader against Texas A&M International University at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.