RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Saturday, the Arkansas Tech softball team picked up where they left off on Friday and cruised to an 8-1 win over Northwestern Oklahoma, completing a three-game series sweep of the Rangers.
Not 24 hours previous to Saturday's series finale, the Golden Suns walked-off the Rangers in dramatic fashion in the second game of Friday's doubleheader with a four-run bottom of the seventh. On Saturday, the momentum kept rolling as the Golden Suns scored five runs in the bottom of the first.
The big hits in the inning came in consecutive at-bats after Tech had taken a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs,
Abigail Lochala hit a two-run single to right field while
Adrianna Cooney, who had the walk-off double on Friday, singled home two more runs as she hit the ball into centerfield.
An inning later, the Golden Suns added a run as they scored on a throwing error by the Northwestern first baseman. In the third, the Golden Suns plated two more runs and were in position to end the game early by run-rule thanks a sac fly by Lochala and a bases loaded walk to
Shelby Chavers.
The Rangers would stave off the run-rule with a single run scoring in the top of the fifth, but all it did was change the eventual final score to 8-1.
Aidan Dayberry pitched the entire game for the Golden Suns. She would scatter five hits, allow on unearned run, walk one and strikeout seven.
The Golden Suns will now prepare for a road weekend series at Southwestern Oklahoma. The series is slated to start with a doubleheader on Friday, March 22. First-pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
