— The Muskogee softball team knew that Tuesday was going to be a tough day at Rougherettes Park.

The Lady Roughers played two completed games and the resumption of a third and prevailed in all three, run-ruling Bartlesville 11-1 in the first game, then out-dueling Bixby 4-1 in the resumption of a game from Aug. 15 before coming from behind to down Bixby in the final game 3-1.

“This was one of the best days in Muskogee softball since I’ve been here,” said MHS coach Keith Coleman. “The kids showed tremendous focus and tremendous grit. We played great against two really great teams.”

On Senior Day, it would be Paige Gann that would lead the Lady Roughers going 5-for-7 with a walk, four runs scored and three RBIs. She also was the winning pitcher in the two games against Bixby, running her record to 12-5 on the season.

“I was a little nervous at first,” Gann said. “I’m not used to having that many people here.”

The game against Bartlesville looked like it would be a see-saw affair as the Lady Bruins scored in the top of the first and the Lady Roughers, 19-7 overall and 8-4 in District 6A-4, evened the score in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by Gann.

However, that would be as close as the game got as Muskogee scored three times in the second and put the game away with seven runs in the fourth, making a winner of Shaylee Rowland who improved to 7-2.

The middle game began in the top of the third with the Lady Roughers as the visiting team and Aubrey Johnson on third with two outs. After Bixby pitcher Haley Young struck out Brook Hendrickson, Gann took the circle and put three runners on with two walks and a strikeout-passed ball. Gann regained her composure and induced a groundout.

“I can’t remember having to start a game in the middle of it,” Gann said. “I forgot where they were in the lineup and that affected how I pitched.”

That seemed to spark Muskogee as it put two runs on the board in the fourth on a two-run double by Carlee Gann, Paige’s younger sister, for a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Roughers doubled their run total in the fifth. Paige Gann provided the punch with a two-run home run, her second round-tripper of the year. The Lady Spartans scored their only run in the sixth as Paige scattered four hits after the third.

Game two was just as close as game one as neither team scored until the fifth when Bixby’s Sierra Skaggs crossed the plate with an unearned run. The Lady Roughers got three runs in the bottom of the sixth when Jessi Venable dropped a bases-loaded double just inside the right-field line to score Hannah Alexander and Rowland while Dee Emarthle ended the scoring with a groundout to plate Paige Gann.

“These three games were big as far as postseason goes,” Coleman said. “We want to do something that hasn’t been done and that’s host a regional. With Owasso coming here Thursday for two games, this will go a long way for us achieving that goal.”

Owasso currently has a two-game lead over the Lady Roughers for second place in the districts standings. Game one of the doubleheader begins at 5 p.m.