RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech softball team picked up a doubleheader sweep at home against Ouachita Baptist on Friday night at Chartwells Women's Sports Complex to open their weekend series against the Tigers. Following today's action, the Golden Suns advance to a 16-8 overall record and currently hold a 6-1 record against Great American Conference opponents.
GAME ONE
The Golden Suns opened the afternoon with a big 10-0 five inning run rule shutout win against the Tigers in front of the home crowd fans. Getting the start in the circle for Tech in game one was
Bailey Buffington who picked up the win and moves to a 10-2 overall record in the circle this season.
Striking the scoreboard first would be Arkansas Tech in the bottom of the second inning that began with a walk to
Dani Lindsey. Lindsey would then steal second base to put herself in scoring position as
Kassie Mayberry continued her first appearance at the plate for the day. Mayberry would shatter a double up through the left side to move Lindsey to third and now put two in scoring position for Tech as the bottom of the second inning continued.
Shelby Chavers would be the one to plate the first two runs of the afternoon for the Golden Suns on a single to left center field to bring home both Lindsey and Mayberry and pick up the pair of RBI's as well as give her team the 2-0 advantage over the Tigers after two innings.
In the top of the third, Buffington would open collecting back-to-back outs, but let the next two batters reach on singles. However, Buffington took command and got the final out of the inning on a groundout to
Makenzie Goins at first base to send back out the Golden Sun bats.
During the bottom of the frame, Goins and
Jessica Williams would be given two back-to-back walks and
Kacie Gibbins would load the bases with a single to right field. Lindsey would drive in the first run of the frame with a single up the middle to give the Golden Suns a 3-0 lead.
The final two runs of the inning would come off an error by the Ouachita third baseman as a throwout attempt was way off target allowing Williams and Gibbins to score a pair of unearned runs off the error by the Tigers and give Tech the 5-0 lead after three innings of action.
The Golden Suns would deliver their final blow to the game in the bottom of the fourth. A sacrifice flyout by Williams with the bases loaded would score
Brooke Prewitt to tag on another run for Tech. Then,
Makenzie Addis would reach base on a throwing error by the Tiger third baseman which allowed
Lillee Mahan at third to score for the second run of the inning. The third and fourth runs of the inning came off a pair of back-to-back singles by Gibbins and Lindsey to score both Goins and Addis to make it a 9-0 lead.
The final run of the game would be scored on a walk to Prewitt with the bases loaded that forced Gibbins to score and give the Golden Suns their commanding 10-0 lead.
Buffington came out in the top of the fifth inning and once again shutdown the bats of the Tigers with three straight outs to end the game with a 10-0 five inning run rule shutout against Ouachita Baptist.
GAME TWO
The Golden Suns would collect their second win of the day in game two. Getting the start in the circle for game two was
Bradi Basler who picked up the win and moves to 4-4 overall on the year.
Ouachita would open up game two in control this time. They scored their first run of the day off an RBI double through the left side to take a 1-0 lead over Tech early in the contest. That lead would extend out to 2-0 as an error by the Golden Suns allowed the runner at third to score. The runs scored by the Tigers in the top of the first would be their only pair of runs scored across both games of the day.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Golden Suns got their chance to strike back and tie the game. The bottom of the frame was a slow start for Tech as Ouachita managed to get the first two batters in the order out. However,
Kaylyn Aguirre lit a spark with a single to second base that brought up Mayberry to the plate. Mayberry would crush a monster triple to right center field to drive in Aguirre and pick up a strong RBI play.
Following Mayberry at-bat, Chavers would help drive in a run of her own with a single to second base to send Mayberry to strike home and tie the game up at 2-2 through the first two full innings of action.
In the top of the third inning of action, the Golden Suns came away with a big time play in the field for an out as the Tigers managed to send out a double to right center field. However, the Tiger baserunner decided to bet their luck against the Tech defense to make a push for third base and Tech punished them for that decision as Aguirre threw a perfect toss over to Mayberry at second, who scooped it and dished it over to Williams at third for the out on the double.
Following the out by the Golden Sun defense, Basler would send the next batter down swinging. She would walk the next two Tiger hitters, but would regain her composure and collect the final out of the inning on a swinging strikeout.
Arkansas Tech would plate their final two runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning that started with an RBI single to centefield by Lindsey with the bases loaded that would bring across Goins to score as Tech would grab their first lead of the game at 3-2. Gibbins would bring home the next run with a sac flyout to centerfield that would score Williams.
The final two runs of the day would be brought in by Mayberry who smashed a strong double to right field to plate two more runs for the Golden Suns and give them a 6-2 lead after three innings of play.
From there, neither team would score again as the pitchers would take care of the rest. In the top of the sixth inning,
Lexy Taylor would replace Basler in the circle and close out the game for the Golden Suns recording six straight outs to give her team the 6-2 win and doubleheader sweep over Ouachita Baptist.
UP NEXT
As things currently stand, the Golden Suns are scheduled to play the final game of the weekend conference series against Ouachita Baptist tomorrow at noon at Chartwells. With the potential for weather heading to the area, the time and/or venue for tomorrows game is subject to change so be sure to stay tuned to both the Arkansas Tech Athletics and Arkansas Tech Softball social media pages tomorrow morning for any updates regarding tomorrow's game against Ouachita.
