RSU HillCats’ Curtis Homers Twice
In Split with Southern Nazarene

Freshman slugger Linsey Curtis refused to let Rogers State endure a sweep at the hands of Southern Nazarene Tuesday night at the Hillcat Complex in Claremore.

After losing the opener, 7-5, Curtis hit two home runs and produced all six RBI in the Hillcats 6-5 victory in the nightcap. The two towering shots pushed her season total to 25, nearly doubling the previous school record for homers in a season.

GAME ONE

A five-run fifth inning propelled the Crimson Storm to the win in game one. SNU started the inning with four straight hits to tie the game at 4-4. Aubrey Jones followed with a two-run blast over the left-field fence that put the Storm in front for good. Jones added a solo homer in the top of the seventh to stretch the lead to three.

RSU built a three-run lead in the early innings. A two-run single by Jordan Ford made it 4-1 in the third. However, the Cats were unable to score again until the seventh. Katrina Loy drew a leadoff walk and scored the final run of the game on a double-play groundout.

Jordan Simmons (16-6) earned the complete-game victory for SNU while Taryn Hernandez took the loss for the Hillcats. Brittany White went 4 for 4 at the plate in the losing effort.

GAME TWO

Curtis did all the heavy lifting in the nightcap, accounting for all six runs in the victory. RSU loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning and Curtis emptied them in a hurry with a grand slam to left-centerfield.

SNU cut the lead to 4-2 with a run in the top of the fourth, but Curtis answered with a two-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth. Things got interesting in the top of the seventh when Daphne Stewart cut the margin to one with a three-run homer. An error and a single up the middle put the go-ahead run on base before Hernandez struck out Keli Billups to end the game.

Hernandez (15-8) earned the win after giving up five runs on 10 hits over seven innings. The final out served as her only punch-out of the game. Kaci Crawford (12-11) was tagged with the loss for SNU. She allowed six runs on six hits over five innings of work.

Rogers State (34-20, 15-15) will travel to Lubbock, Texas, Wednesday in preparation for a Thursday showdown against No. 3 Lubbock Christian.

For more information on Hillcat Softball visit www.rsuhillcats.com.

### -- From Ryan Bradley (RSU Sports Information)