RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Tech softball team opens up its 2015 Great American Conference slate this Friday and Saturday, with doubleheaders against East Central starting at noon both days at Chartwells Women's Sports Complex.

The No. 13 Golden Suns (6-0, 0-0 GAC) lead the conference in hitting, batting .441 as a team and averaging an even nine runs per game over their first six contests, and have smashed 14 home runs, which is fourth in the league despite every other team playing at least twice as many games thus far. The Suns have posted a 2.87 team ERA, second-best in the league. Tech features five full-time players batting .409 or better, with Shanna Davidson batting a league-leading .692 while reaching base at a .750 clip. Kambri Hill is batting .588 with four home runs and 10 RBIs — slugging a whopping 1.294 — while Courtney Colunga adds 11 RBIs, two homers and a pair of doubles while batting .571. Victoria Huie leads the pitching staff with a 0.88 ERA and a 3-0 record, tossing 16 innings with two complete games and six strikeouts. Sydnee Clark is 2-0 with a 3.62 ERA over 9 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts, while Mary Moran has struckout six and not allowed a hit in 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
 
The Tigers (5-7, 2-2 GAC) enter after splitting their first league series of the season against Henderson State, including taking a pair of extra-inning contests on Saturday. ECU is only batting .248 as a team, but posts the fifth-best staff ERA in the GAC at 4.12, while striking out 5.85 batters per seven innings. Lacey Williams-Wenholm leads the team with a .375 batting average with three doubles, and two home runs. Autumn Suydam is hitting .345 with a pair of doubles and two stolen bases, while Jordynn VanPelt leads the Tigers with 10 RBIs and three homers while batting .300. Pitcher Sydney Dow has appeared in seven games, starting two, and sports a 2-2 record with a 3.16 ERA over 31 innings, striking out 30 while walking 16. Marissa Shaffer and Lacey Paulk have combined to start nine games for ECU, striking out 36 to just 10 walks.
Live stats for all four games of the series will be available at www.arkansastechsports.com.