MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The Arkansas Tech softball team opened their weekend conference series on the road at Southern Arkansas splitting the doubleheader with the Muleriders. Following today's action, the Golden Suns are 24-16 overall, with a 13-8 record against Great American Conference opponents.
GAME ONE
The Golden Suns began the day with a win against the Muleriders to start the GAC series strong. Getting the start in game one inside the circle was
Bailey Buffington.
Both pitchers would start the game strong through the first two innings of play as no runs were allowed to score for either team.
Southern Arkansas would strike the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third inning as a double to left center field would score the two lone base runners for the Muleriders. However, following the two runners scoring for SAU, the batter would try and advance to third but would be thrown out to collect the final out of the inning and send the game into the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Buffington would get back control in the circle logging three straight outs for the inning that included back-to-back strikeouts to bring back out the Golden Sun bats for the top of the fifth inning.
Still down 0-2 heading into the fifth, the Golden Suns would put together a rally to take control.
The inning began with a leadoff single from
Kacie Gibbins, while
Kassie Mayberry would then reach first on a fielders choice, but the Muleriders would be unable to execute the play at second letting Gibbins reach safely and put two on base for Tech with no outs.
The Muleriders would then collect back-to-back outs on the next two in the order for the Golden Suns as
Brooke Prewitt headed to the plate in a two out situation with two runners on.
Prewitt would light a spark that would soon catch fire with a single out to right center, then would advance to second on the throw allowing Gibbins to score and Mayberry to reach third base for the big time play.
Makenzie Goins would follow Prewitt with a single of her own through the left side that would push ahead Prewitt to third and score Mayberry to tie the game at 2-2. Following her at-bat Goins would steal second to put both runners in scoring position.
The single party would continue as
Makenzie Addis would dish out a two RBI single up the middle that would score both Prewitt and Goins and Addis would advance to second on the throw as the Golden Suns now took control with a 4-2 lead.
Tech's bats stayed hot as
Dani Lindsey would hit the fourth straight single to centerfield and score Addis to extend the lead over the Muleriders once again. Finally,
Jessica Williams would close out the inning with a bang crushing a monster bomb over the left centerfield wall for her third homerun of the season to give the Golden Suns a comfortable 7-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Southern Arkansas wouldn't go quietly though as a three run homerun made it a 7-5 Tech lead and a single to right center field would score one more to make it just a one run game heading into the sixth with the Golden Suns still ahead 7-6. In the bottom of the fifth,
Kaila Cartwright came in for Tech to replace Buffington in the circle and would close out the game there.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Muleriders would tie the game with a sacrifice flyout to right field that would score their lone run of the inning to make it 7-7 heading into the seventh and final inning of action.
Arkansas Tech would command the final inning of action as Goins would deliver the statement play to shut the door on SAU as she crushed a long solo homerun over the left centerfield wall to give the Golden Suns the go ahead run to lead 8-7 heading into the bottom of the frame.
Cartwright would deliver a flawless performance to close out the game in the circle getting three straight outs to record her third win on the season and bring home the game one 8-7 victory for the Golden Suns.
GAME TWO
The second game of the day proved to be a tough contest for the Golden Suns.
Bradi Basler earned the start in the circle for game two.
In the top of the first, Prewitt would collect the lone hit of the inning with a single up the middle to try and get an early rally going for the Golden Suns.
Southern Arkansas would score their first run of game two in the bottom of the first with a one out single that would give them an early 1-0 lead. Following the run, Basler would get back on track in the circle forcing the Muleriders to hit into a double play to finish out the inning.
From here, the pitchers began to battle as both sides did not allow a single run to cross home plate through the next four full innings of action. During those four innings, Basler would record one strikeout and force most outs into a groundout situation.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Muleriders would take control of the game. A single to left field with bases loaded would score one run for SAU and the third walk of the inning for Basler would score another making it a 3-0 lead for the Muleriders.
Another single would tack on another run for SAU and would mark the end of Basler's time in the circle for the game as Cartwright would switch in and close out the game.
SAU would hit one more single in the inning to score two more runs to take a 6-0 lead after six innings of play.
In the top of the seventh,
Kaylyn Aguirre would pick up a single to try and get some offense going for Tech, but SAU would close out the game and take the 6-0 in game two of the day.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns will take a short break tomorrow for Easter Sunday and will return to Magnolia to finish up their GAC series against Southern Arkansas on Monday. The third and final game of the series is set for a 2 p.m. first pitch in Magnolia on Monday afternoon.
