RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The nationally fifth-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns softball team (38-5, 28-4 Great American Conference) will return to action this Tuesday, April 12, hosting Harding (26-20, 18-16 GAC) in a doubleheader at the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. 

Tech is coming off a series split with No. 23 and second-place Southern Arkansas. With ten games to play in the Great American Conference season, the Golden Suns maintain a 2.5 game lead over the Muleriders in the GAC standings. 

Junior pitcher Jalissa Gum has led the way for the Golden Suns in the pitcher's circle, and has tossed three consecutive shutouts. She was named the GAC's Pitcher of the Week for her performance in the Southern Arkansas series, where she blanked the nation's 12th-ranked offense for the first two times this season and racked up 24 strikeouts. Gum (15-1, 0.77 ERA) leads the Great American Conference in ERA, while Kelsie Barker (5-1, 1.29 ERA) and Morgan Vaughan (14-0, 1.96 ERA) rank third and fifth, respectively. 

Sophomore Alex Edinger enters the series tied for the GAC lead in hits (63) with Southeastern Oklahoma's Jessica Simmons and is ranked fourth in the GAC (amont regular players) with a .404 batting average. Edinger hit .500 in the Southern Arkansas series. 

Meanwhile, Harding has dropped ten of its last eleven games. After falling 10-1 in its series finale against East Central, the Golden Suns picked up a midweek sweep in Searcy before Southern Arkansas took four from the Bisons two weekends ago. This past weekend, Harding dropped three of four at home to UAM and has slipped to a tie with East Central for fifth in the GAC. 

Admission to all Golden Suns regular-season games is free. Live audio, video, and statistics are available at www.arkansastechsports.com, while the game will be carried live on 980-AM (KCJC) in Russellville.