RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Still sitting at No. 2 in the latest Central Region rankings, the Arkansas Tech softball team will look to bolster its postseason resume and solidify its spot in the Great American Conference tournament as it faces Southern Nazarene in the final four-game conference series of the season this Saturday and Sunday at the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex.

The Golden Suns (35-16, 20-12 GAC), coming off a doubleheader split against nationally-ranked Alabama-Huntsville Wednesday, have locked up at least a fourth-place finish in the GAC standings, and by winning at least three of four this weekend could see themselves boosted into third.

The Tech pitching staff is behind the resurgence that will have the Golden Suns playing as the home team during the first round the GAC tournament, which begins April 30 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Tech pitchers have combined to allow three or fewer earned runs in 21 of the team's past 25 games, a stretch that saw them go 16-9. The Golden Suns have risen to second in the league with a 3.12 staff ERA, backed up by the league's second-best fielding percentage.

Morgan Vaughan, Sydnee Clark and Victoria Huie are all still in the top eight in the conference in ERA, while Clark and Vaughan fall in at second and third, respectively, in opponent batting average. Vaughan has posted a 2.63 ERA and a 10-5 record over 101 1/3 innings, tossing five complete games and striking out 65 to just 34 walks. Clark also puts up a sub-3.00 ERA, with a 2.97 mark to go along with a 10-3 record, and 59 strikeouts over 77 2/3 innings. Huie has an 11-6 record with seven complete games to go along with her 3.28 ERA and 46 strikeouts over 96 innings. Kelsie Barker has the lowest ERA on the team, putting up a 2.46 mark over 42 2/3 innings, earning a 3-2 record and four saves on the season.

The Tech offense still leads the GAC in runs scored (310), home runs (74) and slugging (.523), while its power is evident in the national rankings as well, coming in 12th in slugging percentage and fifth in home runs per game. Whitney Robinson dots the GAC leaderboard, coming in second with 66 hits and 45 runs scored, and 10th with a .395 batting average and .471 on-base percentage. Shanna Davidson has been on a roll, batting .469 with eight runs, nine RBIs, four doubles and four home runs over her last 12 games, bumping her season average up to .366 with 12 homers, 35 RBIs and a .724 slugging percentage, which is third in the GAC.

Southern Nazarene (17-26, 13-18 GAC) is 6-6 over its last 12 conference games, and won its first-ever GAC matchup against the Golden Suns in 2013 before dropping the next seven in the series dating to last year's four-game sweep. The Crimson Storm bat .307 as a team, led by Jill Clemence, who is second in the conference with a .437 average, and adds 10 doubles and 17 RBIs. Melissa Padilla is hitting .371 with team highs at 14 doubles, five home runs and 40 RBIs, while Kylie Lang adds a .370 average, 33 runs scored and eight stolen bases.

The Golden Suns are sure to see pitcher Kayla Wyatt, who is first in the GAC with 34 appearances, 24 starts and 199 strikeouts over 136 2/3 innings, putting up a 4.00 ERA with an 8-12 record. Katelyn Brown is the only other pitcher to start a game for SNU, picking up 19 in 29 appearances, covering 114 2/3 innings with a 6.84 ERA and 8-13 record.

The series is scheduled for a pair of doubleheaders, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday, with live statistics available at www.arkansastechsports.com.