CONWAY, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech softball team picked up their first conference series victory of the season on Saturday with a split in their doubleheader with Henderson State. The Golden Suns dropped the first game 9-5, but rallied to win the second game, 5-2.
GAME ONE
In the opener, Henderson State struck first with a run in the top of the second inning on a wild pitch. That one-run lead was short-lived, however, as the Golden Suns responded in their half of the frame with two runs, courtesy of a two-RBI double to left-centerfield off the bat of
Adrianna Cooney.
A half inning later, the Reddies made the most of an extra opportunity off a Tech fielding miscue as they got a two-out three-run home run to go up 4-2. All three runs on that homer were unearned.
In their half of the fourth, the Golden Suns responded again and grabbed a one-run lead with three runs on four hits.
Abigail Lochala got things going in the inning with a one-out single up the middle. A groundout followed to move Lochala to third, but with two outs.
Arissa Harrish then ambushed the first pitch of her at-bat and singled the middle, but the ball stayed on the infield to keep Lochala at third.
Shelby Chavers then drove in Lochala with a single down the left field line. On the single, Chavers took second on the throw while Harrish reached third.
Lexi Gorniak then had the clutch hit driving in both Harrish and Chavers on a single up the middle.
Neither team scored in the fifth, but Henderson tied the score in the top of the sixth on a pinch-hit solo home run to straightaway centerfield.
The Reddies then kept the momentum going in the bottom of the inning by working around a one-out double by Cooney to keep the score tied.
In the seventh, the Reddies struck quickly and grabbed the lead two batters in on a two-run home run. Later in the frame, they added two more runs of insurance to bring the score to its eventual final, 9-5.
GAME TWO
Scoring in the second game came in an inauspicious way as the Reddies scored a pair of runs on a dropped fly ball on the infield with two outs in the top of the second inning. The Golden Suns were able to not let that miscue snowball and were out of the inning on the next pitch.
They would, however, be held in check offensively through the first five innings as they were scoreless with one hit to that point.
That all changed in the bottom of the sixth, however as the Golden Suns exploded for five runs on five hits, while also taking advantage of a Henderson error.
That error came right at the start of the frame as
Abigail Lochala reached first on a fielding error by the Reddies' second baseman. Lochala was then pinch-ran for by
Brooklyn Haney, who was then promptly moved to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by
Arissa Harrish. Haney then scored the first run of the game and inning for Tech on a double to left field off the bat of
Shelby Chavers.
Lillee Mahan then singled to the pitcher, moving Chavers to third with one out.
Sydney Keaton drew a clutch walk to load the bases. The clutch hit then came from
Aidan Gorton as she singled through the left side of the infield, scoring Chavers and Mahan and giving Tech the lead, 3-2.
On her single, Gorton took second on the throw while Keaton moved to third. That allowed for a run of insurance as
Riley Drake had a RBI groundout to third base. Having come on to pinch-run for Gorton,
Kaylyn Aguirre moved to third on the Drake groundout and score moments later on a RBI single by
Cora Skaggs.
Suddenly with a three-run lead,
Aiden Dayberry returned to the circle and finished what she started in the top of the seventh to give Tech the coveted series victory.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns are scheduled to play a mid-week doubleheader at home against Pittsburg State this coming Tuesday afternoon, March 5. First-pitch is slated for 2 p.m. from the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex
