The Odessa College softball team showed why it is the No. 1-ranked team in the NJCAA polls.
The Lady Wranglers made easy work of El Paso Community College, sweeping the Tejanas in two games, winning 19-0 and 6-0 Friday at Wrangler Stadium.
With the victories, Odessa College improved to 42-4 overall and 18-0 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play.
El Paso Community College fell to 4-14, 7-23.
Not even blustery conditions could stand in Odessa College’s way as wind speeds of 38 MPH made the game’s setting a little dusty.
“It was very windy,” Odessa College head coach Jeff Jackson said. “It would’ve been a non-offensive game on most days but I was really impressed with our ability to put some barrels on the ball. It was a hard day to play in the wind but we did a great job of giving ourselves a chance to get the outs that we needed. I thought we did a good job to drive some balls. I was impressed with our pitching too. We did a great job in the circle and that’s what we need to do, moving forward.”
Friday’s games were the start of a four-game homestand this weekend as the Lady Wranglers play their penultimate regular season series in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play.
The doubleheader sweep came just a few days after the Lady Wranglers moved to the top of the national rankings, a first in school history.
“I think when you get a ranking like that, it’s always a good feeling,” Jackson said. “But it’s also one of those things where you have to go an make sure you’re focused. You have to stick to your game and what got you there. You can’t try to do more than what you’ve been doing. You can’t get complacent. That was our focus going into Friday. We wanted to play our game no matter what and I thought we did a good job of that.”
Odessa College extended its current winning streak to 20 games.
Friday’s doubleheader was also the first time in two weeks that the Lady Wrangler softball team was in action after having a bye last weekend.
“We love being out here,” Jackson said. “We do not enjoy breaks, at least I don’t. It always seems like it’s been forever when we get back on the field. It was a good feeling to be back out here, no matter what the weather was doing.”
In Game 1, the Lady Wranglers needed only one inning to set the tone, scoring 10 runs.
Odessa College pitcher Rayna Cruickshanks started in the first game and needed only three innings of work.
El Paso Community College’s Marissa Reza took the loss in the circle.
The Tejanas managed to get a runner on first in the opening inning from Jaqueline Hernandez’s single.
However, she was soon picked off while trying to steal second to end the top half of the inning.
Things wouldn’t get any easier for the visitors from that point.
The Lady Wranglers took advantage of errors while loading the bases in the bottom of the second inning.
It wasn’t long until Clarissa Zapata was brought home as OC got on the board.
Shortly after, with the bases loaded, the Lady Wranglers’ Camryn Milley was walked, bringing home her teammate Ariel Gomez.
Michaella Baker was then walked, bringing in Kawehi lli.
An RBI by Kaya Lee then scored Baker.
More runs came from the Lady Wranglers and when the inning was over with, double-digit runs had been put up.
El Paso Community College managed to get another runner on first in the bottom of the second with Sadie Cordillo’s single.
Isabella McCauley followed it up with a double into left field, putting her teammate in scoring position.
However, Reza was unable to bring anyone home as she struck out swinging.
Baker was walked at the start of the bottom half of the second inning.
Brooke Nauman’s single into center soon followed.
Ari Ybarra’s walk loaded the bases.
Zapata wouldn’t disappoint and her three RBI triple then made it 13-0.
Ariel Gomez followed it up with a two-run homer to extend the hosts lead and the second inning wasn’t even over.
It was 17-0, Odessa College, by the end of the third.
Avery Truss took over in the circle for the Lady Wranglers to begin the fourth.
Odessa College added two more runs in the bottom of the inning and El Paso Community College was shut out.
Odessa College finished Game 1 with 14 hits while El Paso Community College had three and both teams also had one error apiece.
Pitcher Emily Brouse began Game 2 in the circle for the Lady Wranglers while McCauley started for the Tejanas.
Ari Ybarra tripled into center field in the bottom of the first inning.
Gomez brought her home with an RBI single into right field for a 1-0 lead.
El Paso CC managed to get runners on first and second in the bottom of the second inning but couldn’t get a run out of the opportunity.
Ybarra scored off Gomez’s RBI in the bottom of the third to double the Lady Wranglers’ lead.
Morgan Dutton then scored off Bradi Hill’s double and the hosts had a 3-0 lead.
Maya Mognelli homered over the centerfield fence to extend Odessa College’s lead to 5-0 in the fourth.
Mognelli then took over the pitching duties at the start of the fifth inning.
Milley scored off a Hill double in the bottom of the fifth.
Both teams will return to the diamond with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wrangler Stadium.
The Lady Wranglers will then close out the regular season next week with a four-game series at home against Frank Phillips College.
