ALVA, OKLA. – The East Central University softball team split the first two games of the four-game Great American Conference series at Northwestern Oklahoma State.  The Tigers (13-9, 4-6 GAC) first earned a 4-1 victory and then fell 4-7.

ECU hit .263 as a team for the day, with three players hitting .500.  Junior Alissa Taylor led the way with four hits, one run and three RBIs, while junior Claresha Clemons added three hits, a run and two RBIs and sophomore Mariah Ewy netting two hits, two runs and an RBI.

Freshman Karlie Milburn picked up the decisions in the circle for both games, starting in one and finishing out the second.  Milburn threw a total of 7.0 innings, with six hits and six runs allowed and a strikeout.

The teams will wrap up the series, Saturday, March 11, with a double-header starting at 11 p.m. in Alva, Okla.

ECU 4, NWOSU 1
The Tigers were the first to get on the scoreboard, taking a 1-0 lead after the second inning.  Sophomore Caitlin Paolini started the inning by drawing a walk, but was out when redshirt sophomore Aundrea Hamric hit into a fielder's choice.  Hamric then stole second and advanced to third due to an error.  That allowed sophomore Mariah Ewy to send her home with a single to right field.

The Rangers (3-19, 1-9 GAC) responded in the third inning and tied the game at one.  The teams then turned up the defensive pressure and held each other scores through the sixth inning.

The top of the seventh is when ECU took control of the game, scoring three runs for the 4-1 advantage.  Ewy started with a walk, but the next two batters were then sent back to the dugout.  However, Taylor kept things alive for the Tigers, with a single to left center to score the first run. 

Freshman Catherine Barrera then sent Taylor around with a triple down the right field line.  Clemons earned the final RBI of the inning with a single to left.

The ECU defense then held strong in the bottom of the seventh, sending the first three NWOSU batters back to the dugout.

NWOSU 7, ECU 4
The Rangers jumped out to the early advantage and never let it go.  The first runs were scored in the second inning, with NWOSU taking a 0-3 lead.

The Tigers cut into the deficit with a single run in the fifth.  After the first out Ewy was walked and advanced to second on the next out.  That allowed Taylor to earn an RBI with a double to right center.

The Rangers added to the lead with a three-run bottom of the fifth, for a 1-6 ECU disadvantage.

The Tigers made one more push in the sixth, adding two runs on a solo home run from Clemons and a single for sophomore Ellanee Allison.

NWOSU added its final run in the bottom of the sixth before, Taylor hit a solo home run in the seventh for the 4-7 final.