(May 4, 2021) Mena, Arkansas – Coming off a split yesterday at Connors State College, the Bucks looked to pick up a couple of wins against NOC-Enid on Tuesday afternoon at Cummings-Cecil Field at McMillan Park.
Game 1
In the first game, the Bucks could only muster 1 hit in the 5 innings of play. NOC-Enid plated 3 runs in the 2nd, 4 runs in the 4th, and a run in the 5th to win 8-0.
Gracie Kimbrell (11-14) got the start and pitched 3.1 innings, giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 5 hits. Brooke Detommaso came on in relief and pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a run on 1 hit.
Game 2
Hannah Hunter got the start and put down the Jets in order to start the game. Trying to rebound from the previous game, the Bucks plated 2 runs in the bottom half. With 1 out, Maggie Lilly hit a solo homer to get things started. Gracie Kimbrell reached on an error and advanced on a ground out in the next at-bat. With 2 outs, Kristen McMillan doubled to score Kimbrell. The Bucks held a 2-0 lead after an inning.
In the 2nd, the Jets came roaring back with 3 runs of their own and held the Bucks scoreless to lead 3-2 after 2 innings. In the 3rd, Hunter once again put down the Jets in order. With 2 outs in the bottom half, Gracie Kimbrell doubled before Madelynn Lacaze singled to left field to score Kimbrell. Lacaze advanced to second on the throw. Kristen McMillan would trade places with Lacaze with an RBI double to left field. Next at-bat, Maddi Miles did the same thing to score McMillan. The 3 runs gave the Bucks a 5-3 lead.
The Jets would not go away with 2 more runs in the top of the 4th. With 1 out, Autumn Powell came on to pitch in place of Hunter. The Bucks would strand a couple of runners to keep the game tied at 5-5.
Powell pitched a scoreless top of the 5th before the Bucks took the lead in the bottom half. Kristen McMillan led off with a single before advancing to second base on a ground out. Next at-bat, Ashlee Gurley would hit an RBI triple to right field. Gurley would then score on Sydney Smith's RBI single to give the Bucks a 7-5 lead after 5 innings.
After giving up a single and a double, Powell was chased from the game. Gracie Kimbrell came on to pitch and got a couple groundout and a fly out, but both runners would score to tie the game at 7-7. In the bottom half, Maggie Lilly led off with a single before advancing to second base on a ground out and to third on a passed ball. Two hitters later, Kristen McMillan reached on an error to plate Lilly to give the Bucks an 8-7 lead heading into the last inning.
In the top half, the Jets picked up 2 runs with 2 outs to lead 9-8. The Bucks got a base runner in the bottom half but back-to-back fly outs ended the game.
The losses bring the Bucks record to 19-35 overall and 9-21 on the season.
#GOBUCKS