Tulsa walks-off Drake to Split Saturday Doubleheader

Saturday, March 1

Tulsa, Okla.

1:00 p.m.

Tulsa

9-9

Drake

4-8

Drake

Tulsa

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa walks-off Drake to Split Saturday Doubleheader

3/1/2025 9:58:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score - Drake G1 (PDF)Box Score - Drake G2 (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. – The Golden Hurricane picked up its second walk-off win of the weekend, coming back to beat the Bulldogs 2-1 in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. Drake won the opener 7-2, overturning a deficit in the final inning as well.

Tulsa (10-9) finishes the Hurricane Classic 3-1 and moves to 4-1 at home on the season and 2-1 against Drake in 2025. The Bulldogs are 4-9 after today's games. Both teams head to Stillwater in the morning to face No. 16/15 Oklahoma State.

Maura Moore (6-4) picked up her sixth win of the season with her fourth complete game. She held the Bulldogs to just one unearned run on five hits. She also struck out five and allowed just one walk.

Abby Hayes started the opener and pitched two innings, allowing a run on three hits with a strikeout. She was pulled after finding herself in a bit of trouble in the third inning.

Alexa Hopkins (1-1) came on in relief and was eventually tagged with the loss. However, the start of her afternoon went as well as could be hoped. She worked her way out of the jam in the third with no damage. Despite a few walks, Hopkins did not allow a hit until the seventh inning. There she surrendered five runs, four earned, on three hits. Brinly Maples came on to finish the seventh and was credited with a run and one hit allowed.

Maci Cole homered in the fifth inning of the opener, her third of the season. She came around to score the tying run of game two. Cole finished the day with a pair of hits in each game, including a triple in the finale. Celeste Wood was the hero in game two with her game-winning RBI single to drive in Whitney Holcomb. Annika Dill's single drove in Cole as part of a two-hit game for the freshman, which included a double. Claira Skaggs drew three walks in the first game of the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Game One
The pitchers dominated game one for the majority of the contest. Drake took the lead on a solo home run in the top of the third, but that would be all the damage the Bulldogs could manage until the game's final inning.

Tulsa broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Cole led the inning with a solo homer to right to tie the game at one. After a groundout, the Hurricane loaded the bases with a Dill single and a pair of walks. Aliya Scarborough stepped in to hit and drew a walk of her own, scoring Dill to give Tulsa a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the Hurricane could not capitalize further on the opportunity as the next two batters went down.

The fateful top of the seventh began with a single through the right side, the first hit off Hopkins for the Bulldogs. A bunt single and then an error loaded the bases with nobody out. Drake tied the game on a wild pitch and, after a walk, took the lead on a two RBI single. Another run on a wild pitch and a walk ended Hopkins' night with Tulsa trailing 5-2.

Drake kept up the attack, scoring on a fielder's choice that produced no outs. The first outs of the inning in fact came on a lineout double play, with Skaggs snagging the line drive and touching the bag herself to catch a runner out of position. But Drake added a sixth run in the inning with a triple to go ahead 7-2.

Tulsa didn't go down easily in the bottom of the frame, drawing a pair of walks and a catcher's interference to load the bases with two outs. However, the Hurricane did not manage to push a run across and Drake took game one.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Drake	0	0	1	0	0	0	6	7	7	2
Tulsa	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	5	1

HOW IT HAPPENED – Game Two
Game two was just as low scoring as the most of game one, except this time, there was no high-scoring inning. The Bulldogs again drew first blood with a run in the third inning, although without the benefit of a solo home run. This time, a leadoff single from Natalee Watt resulted in a run. She was sacrificed to second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, a ground ball to short looked to end the threat, but the ball was booted and Watt scored to go ahead 1-0.

That would be all for Drake.

Tulsa wasted a few opportunities early in the game. An error with one out in the second allowed a baserunner, but she was eventually stranded at second. In the third, Dill smashed a two-out double off the wall in left center but went no further. Another runner was left at second in the fourth, and in the fifth, Cole's leadoff triple paid no dividends.

Finally, in the seventh inning Tulsa found life. Cole singled up the middle with one out. Skaggs smashed a sharply hit ground ball to the right of the first baseman and was surely headed to the outfield. Instead, the first baseman had other ideas and made a nice diving stop. However, as she tried to crawl to beat Skaggs to the bag, she lost control of the ball, allowing Cole to move to third.

Dill stepped up and tied the game with a single to left center, scoring Cole and moving Skaggs to third. On the throw in, Dill took second herself and took the double play out of the equation. Wood came to the plate with a chance to be the hero, and on the second pitch of the at-bat, she did just that, hitting a soft liner to center that dropped comfortably in front of the racing in center fielder. Whitney Holcomb, who pinch ran for Skaggs, stayed in extra beat just to be sure the ball dropped, and then raced home ahead of the tag for the walk-off 2-1 win.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Drake	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Tulsa	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	9	2

UP NEXT
Tulsa has another great opportunity on Sunday afternoon as the Golden Hurricane faces No. 16/15 Oklahoma State in Stillwater. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. pending the end of the Drake and OSU game. The contest will air on ESPN+.