ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech softball team picked up a couple of wins on Saturday as they swept their doubleheader on the road at Ouachita Baptist. The Golden Suns won a game-one marathon, 8-5 in 10 innings and then shutout Ouachita in the nightcap, 4-0.
GAME ONE
The opening game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Ouachita scored three runs on two hits. Prior to that, the Tigers had managed just one hit against Tech starter,
Bradi Basler.
Despite falling behind in the fourth, the Golden Suns began to comeback in the top of the fifth and scored a run on two hits in the inning.
Maycie Hardy started things off in the frame with a leadoff double. Two batters later, she was still at second and in danger of being stranded in scoring position, but leading RBI hitter,
Lexi Gorniak added to that total with a clutch RBI single to left-centerfield.
An inning later, the Golden Suns took the lead with a three-run inning of their own.
Dani Lindsey led that inning off with a walk and was then pinch-ran for by
Brooklyn Haney, who stole second in the next at-bat. A batter later,
Savannah Snow drew a walk and was pinch-ran for by
Cora Skaggs. Abaigail Lochala then reached base on the third walk of the inning, loading the bases with one out.
Lochala was then pinch-ran for by
Zoe Lott ahead of the Hardy at-bat. Hardy then drove in the first run of the inning on a single through the left side.
Riley Drake then came to the plate to pinch-hit and picked up a painful RBI as she was hit-by-a-pitch.
Shelby Chavers then gave the Golden Suns the lead on a RBI groundout to second.
The Tigers then went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, but the Golden Suns were unable to get any insurance runs and carried a one-run lead into the last half of the seventh.
Ouachita then got the potential tying run quickly on base with an infield single to the pitcher, Basler. That runner made second in the next at-bat on a groundout to first. Basler then induced a liner back to her for the second out of the inning. The Tigers, however, would get a ball to fall in shallow centerfield to tie the game and send things to extra innings.
Both teams were held scoreless over the first two extra frames as the game played on to the 10
th.
In the top of the 10
th, the Golden Suns broke through once more offensively and scored four runs on two hits, while also capitalizing on a pair of Tiger errors. The run-scoring plays in the inning were a RBI fielder's choice for
Adrianna Cooney, a two-RBI double by Chavers and a RBI single by Gorniak.
The Tigers would score a run in the bottom of the inning, but Basler would retire the next two after that run to close out the game.
The junior right-hander would pitch all 10 innings in the circle for the Golden Suns and earned her seventh win of the season in the process. In her outing, Basler scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out eight.
GAME TWO
Unlike the opener, the Golden Suns got on the board first and did so in the top of the first on a RBI single to left by
Sydney Keaton, scoring
Shelby Chavers, who led the game off with a triple to centerfield.
That early run would be the only offense for much of the game, however, as another pitcher's duel was playing out in the nightcap between Ouachita's Karley Burrow and Tech's
Alexis Findley. Both pitchers would go the distance in the game, but it was ultimately Findley who would emerge victorious in the duel as the Golden Suns offense gave her three more runs of insurance in the top of the seventh, helping her put the finishing touches on the shutout.
In that top of the seventh,
Maycie Hardy led off with a double to left and was pinch-ran for by
Brooklyn Haney. Haney was then moved over to second base on a successful sacrifice bunt by
Abigail Lochala. After the second out was made, Arrisa Harrish reached first base on a throwing error by the Tigers' third baseman, scoring Haney and keeping the inning alive.
Chavers then singled to the pitcher, which led to Gorniak doubling home Harrish and Chavers on a gap shot to left-centerfield.
As mentioned earlier, Findley would finish the Tigers out in the bottom of the inning to register her second shutout of the season. In the start at Ouachita, Findley scattered three hits, all singles, allowed one walk and struck out a season-high eight batters.
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns and Tigers will conclude their series on Sunday afternoon with a single-game scheduled to start at Noon.
