A sweep of Otero Junior College Monday saw the Odessa College softball team maintain its strong push through the early portion of its season.
The Lady Wranglers took control of a nonconference doubleheader against the Lady Rattlers at the Wrangler Softball Complex, winning the first matchup 20-1 in five innings and securing a 10-2 victory in a six-inning Game 2.
Odessa College has now won 15 straight games since stumbling against Alvin Community College on Feb. 6.
“The winning streak is great but we’re not looking at the overall streak, we’re looking at two games a day,” Odessa College softball coach Jeff Jackson said. “That’s gonna always be our focus, not just winning the first one and not just winning the first inning.
“We want to win the entire day.”
The Lady Wranglers showed how quickly they can recover and take over in their first game against Otero Junior College, scoring 12 runs in the bottom of the first inning after going down by one.
An RBI single from Yaritza Puente gave the Lady Rattlers their first lead of the contest, which also resulted being the only one they held.
Reagan Stange got the scoring started for Odessa College with a double to centerfield, allowing Kaya Lee and Lauren Gonzales to reach home plate.
After a quick pop out on the next at bat, the Lady Wranglers scored nine runs before recording their second out of the frame.
Odessa College then showed how strong its defense can be by keeping Otero Junior College scoreless in the next four innings.
The Lady Wranglers added eight runs to their advantage through the second and fourth, with Stange and Clarisa Zapata finding success at bat.
Stange hit a three-run homer in the bottom of third, while Zapata sent a solo deep shot out to center in the fourth.
Three straight ground outs at first saw the Lady Wranglers close out the first contest on a strong note, with Stange recording seven RBIs and Hillis bringing in four runners.
Jackson said the opening contest was a continuation of how his team has been playing in its nonconference matchups.
He was impressed with his team’s ability to make the most of its at-bats.
“Pesky seems kind of more like a small ball type term but we are so pesky, we refuse to get out,” Jackson said. “That was very apparent in that first inning for sure.”
Otero Junior College didn’t let the Lady Wranglers jump ahead as quickly in the second game, allowing three runs through the first three innings.
A four-run fourth frame helped Odessa College break the game open, with Zapata and Stange hitting home runs for the second straight contest.
Before the Lady Wranglers got the scoring burst, the Lady Rattlers trailed by one run and saw the pitching of Alyssa Charter-Smith hold opposing batters off.
Before Charter-Smith was taken off the circle, she allowed eight hits and recorded four strikeouts.
Morgan Dutton hit a two-run homer and Kawehi Ili reached home plate in the bottom of the sixth to help Odessa College secure the sweep.
Although the Lady Wranglers had to work through some adjustments in their second contest, they stayed consistent in scoring quickly.
Having Lee at the top of the lineup has been beneficial for the team to get the energy flowing at bat.
“Her ability to get us going, we just feed off of it,” Jackson said. “That’s been really impressive to me, they have made my job very, very easy for the most part where we have come out aggressive.
“We have played our game with our speed, adding the power and extra bases along the way.”
Odessa College (16-2 overall) will hit the road for their next doubleheader, facing North Central Texas College starting at noon Friday in Gainesville.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
