BENTONVILLE, Ark. - The 2014 Great American Conference Softball Championships opens Thursday with eight games. The top seeds - Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southern Arkansas won twice to remain in the winner's bracket while Arkansas-Monticello and East Central won the first elimination games of the tournament.
#1 SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 3, #4 HARDING 1 || BOX SCORE ||
Top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State remained in the winner's bracket by earning a hard-fought 3-1 victory against fourth-seeded Harding, 3-1.
Neither team produced a run until Harding (32-25) scratched out a run in the top of the fifth inning. Brookelynn Moon, who opened the inning with a single, came around to score on a throwing error by Lauren Renneker.
The Savage Storm (37-15) responded with two runs in their half of the fifth inning. Arianna Jones walked with one out. Pitcher Mindy McElroy helped out her own cause with a single up the middle. Jones scored on a squeeze bunt by Rachel Jones - her second successful squeeze bunt of the day. Shaina Crites, who came on to run for McElroy, scored on a Jessica Simmons sacrifice fly.
They added an insurance run one inning later. Sydney Kramer opened with a triple. Laramie Beal drove her home with a double to the left-center field gap.
The three runs proved more than enough for McElroy. She won her second game of the day - her 23rd this season - by allowing only two hits over her 7.0 innings in the circle. In two games on Friday, she has allowed only five hits and just 1 unearned run over 15.0 innings of work. Opponents hit just .100 in the two games.
The Savage Storm will face Southern Arkansas in a meeting of the championship's two top seeds at 3 p.m. on Friday for a spot in Saturday's title game. Southeastern split with SAU during the regular season. Harding faces a quick turnaround as the Lady Bisons take on Arkansas-Monticello in an elimination game at 11 a.m.
#5 EAST CENTRAL 7, #8 OUACHITA BAPTIST 5 || BOX SCORE ||
Despite out-hitting Ouachita Baptist 15-2, East Central needed to quell a seventh-inning rally to hang on for a 7-5 victory and remain alive in the GAC Softball Championships.
ECU (33-24) dented the plate in the first inning when Lacey Williams singled home Autumn Suydam. OBU (18-38) responded when Parrish Reed homered in the bottom of the second inning. After ECU grabbed a 2-1 lead, Ouachita Baptist took its first lead of the game when the Lady Tigers scored three times in the third inning. Kailey Madden drove in the tying run with a bases loaded walk. Brianne Baley knocked home a pair with a single up the middle.
A home run by Williams in the fifth inning drew East Central to within a run, 4-3. The Lady Tigers regained the lead for good in the top of the sixth inning when they scored four times. All-GAC catcher Gina Mengwasser gave ECU the lead with a two-run double. Jordynn VanPelt followed with a double and Samantha McGraw singled home VanPelt.
Brianna Nunley held Ouachita Baptist to a run over 4.1 innings of relief work to earn the victory and improve to 12-11 on the season. While they only collected two hits, OBU drew nine walks in the game.
The Lady Tigers will face Henderson State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Friday. The Lady Reddies beat the Lady Tigers twice at last year's GAC Softball Championship.
#2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 8, #3 HENDERSON STATE 0 (5) || BOX SCORE ||
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - For the second time on Friday, a potent second inning carried Southern Arkansas to victory as a six-run frame resulted in an 8-0 victory against Henderson State in five innings.
SAU (34-23) sent 11 to plate in the second inning. - Sarah Higginbotham doubled to right center to open the frame. Darian Harris followed with a single to right center. Leigha Doyle plated Higginbotham for the first run of the game. Chelsea Ivy doubled home Harris and Doyle.
After a pitching change, Courtney Hudgins drove in the fourth run with a single to left field. GAC Freshman of the Year Shelby Miller made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly. Audrey Farfan drove in the final run of the rally with a fielder's choice.
Maddy Dow mashed her 18th home run of the year to make it 7-0 and Taylor Guin closed out the victory by producing a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The win tied the program's single-season mark for wins, 34, set previously by the 2000 squad.
Hanna Gill picked up her second win at the tournament. She threw five scoreless innings and struck out eight. Over the two games on Friday, she recorded 15 strikeouts against only one walk over 12.0 innings of work. She has not allowed an earned run.
The Lady Muleriders will play the winner of Southeastern Oklahoma State and Harding at 3 p.m. on Friday for a spot in Saturday's title game. SAU swept its four-game series with the Lady Bisons and split with the Savage Storm. Henderson State (29-24) will face the winner of East Central and Ouachita Baptist at 1 p.m.
#7 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 8, #6 ARKANSAS TECH 6 || BOX SCORE ||
The Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms staved off elimination by defeating Arkansas Tech, 8-6, in a seesaw contest at Memorial Park.
Trailing 6-5 entering their last at bat, the Cotton Blossoms (27-29) rallied for three runs to pull out the victory. With two out, and facing a 1-2 count, Channing Tharpe drilled a game-tying home run to left field. McKenzie Rice and Kali Piha each walked on four pitches. Three-time All-GAC outfielder Beth Johnson brought both home on a single down the left-field line. Piha scored on a fielding error.
in the bottom of the seventh inning, Arkansas Tech (31-27) put the lead-off batter on base, but a double play erased that threat. A ground out by Courtney Colunga ended the game.
Arkansas Tech jumped out to 3-0 advantage in the first inning when Colunga slugged a three-run home run. The Golden Suns extended the lead to 4-0 on an Ashley Keen RBI single. UAM chipped away with two runs in two runs in hte fourth and tied it with two more in the fifth.
The Golden Suns regained the lead with two runs of their own in the fifth inning. The Cotton Blossoms pulled to within a run when Rice scored on a groundout. Johnson finished 3-for-5 with an RBI. Courtney Wilson picked up the win in relief. She threw 4.1 innings in relief of
Arkansas-Monticello will face the loser of tonight's game between top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State and Harding at 11 a.m. on Friday.
#4 HARDING 4, #5 EAST CENTRAL 3 (10) || BOX SCORE ||
In the longest Great American Conference Softball Championship game in league history, Harding defeated East Central, 4-3, on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning by Amanda Berdon.
After scoring the game's opening run, Harding (32-24) found itself down 3-1 headed into the sixth inning. Kimmy Hendricks singled through the left side to score Brookelynn Moon and Emily Jones to even the game, 3-3.
In the top of the 10th inning, the international tie breaker rule came into play. After placing a runner at second, East Central (32-24) put runners and second and third with one out. Amber Rollins, who pitched the full 10 innings, escaped the jam by inducing a weak ground out and a foul out.
East Central built a 3-1 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the second inning and adding a run in the fifth when Jordynn VanPelt lifted her 14th home run over the right-center field wall.
The Lady Bisons opened the scoring by plating a run in the bottom of the first inning. Courtney Derrick led off the game with a single. She advanced on a bunt and scored on Carolyn Clayton single through the right side of the infield.
The Lady Bisons will face Southeastern Oklahoma State late Friday night at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers will face Ouachita Baptist, shortly after 9 p.m. That game will be contested at Memorial Park.
#1 SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 1, #8 OUACHITA BAPTIST 0 || BOX SCORE ||
For the second straight year, Southeastern Oklahoma State, as the top seed, won its opening game in its final at bat as a successful squeeze bunt from Rachel Jones pushed home the game's only run in an eight-inning win against Ouachita Baptist.
Lauren Renneker opened the eighth inning with her second hit of the contest. After a walk to GAC Player of the Year Jessica Simmons, the two advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Jones' squeeze gave the Savage Storm (36-15) their fifth straight win in GAC Softball Championship play.
GAC Pitcher of the Year Mindy McElroy threw eight scoreless innings to earn her GAC-leading 22nd win. She surrendered only three hits and issued just one walk as she threw her third shutout on the season.
Frakes, the GAC's leader in innings pitched this season, matched McElroy during the first seven innings. She suffered the hard-luck loss for OBU (18-37) as she gave up five hits over he 7.1 innings of work.
The Savage Storm will face the winner of Harding and East Central at 8 p.m. at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers will face the loser between the Lady Bisons and Lady Tigers, also at 8 p.m. That game will be contested at Memorial Park.
#2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 9, #7 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 3 || BOX SCORE ||
The potent Southern Arkansas offense came out hot by scoring twice in the first and seven times in the second en route to a 9-3 victory against seventh-seeded Arkansas-Monticello.
Sarah Higginbotham plated the first two runs of the game for the Lady Muleriders (33-23) with a double to right center. An inning later, SAU sent 11 batters to plate scoring seven times. Taylor Guin and GAC Freshman of the Year Shelby Miller opened the scoring with run-scoring hits. Chelsea Ivy collected two hits and an RBI in the inning; Higginbotham added two RBI with a single; Leigha Doyle knocked home two more with a single. The seven runs tied the GAC Softball Championship single-inning record.
The Cotton Blossoms (26-29) pulled to within six by scoring three times in the third inning. The first three hitters reached base safely to load the bases. McKenzie Rice brought home the first run with a run-scoring groundout. Hannah Pendley and Kali Piha both scored on a throwing error.
Hanna Gill improved to 10-3 as she threw her ninth complete game. She seven strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Higginbotham's four RBI tied the GAC Softball Championship single-game record, set three times previously.
Both teams will play again at 6 p.m. The Lady Muleriders will play Henderson State at the Tiger Athletic Complex. Meanwhile, the Cotton Blossoms will face Arkansas Tech at Memorial Park. The GAC Sports Network will carry the SAU-HSU game.
#3 HENDERSON STATE 6, #6 ARKANSAS TECH 2 || BOX SCORE ||
Henderson State, last year's runner-up at the GAC Championships, opened with a 6-2 victory against sixth-seeded Arkansas Tech.
The Lady Reddies (29-23) took advantage of a pair of Golden Suns errors in the second inning. Following a walk to Jaylin Baldridge, she advanced to second on a throwing error by Tech's Siarra Gomez. A throwing error by pitcher Sydnee Clark loaded the bases. Tricia Hock delivered a two-run single to right field to score Baldridge and Kayla Williams.
Arkansas Tech (31-26) tied the game in the top of the fifth inning as First-Team All-GAC outfielder Whitney Robinson drove a home run over the right-field wall, her sixth of the season. Ashley Savage, who reached on a one-out walk, scored in front of Robinson.
Henderson State repsonded immediately with a pair runs in its half of the fifth inning. After Amy Halter led off the inning with a bunt single, Amber Klug lifted a fly ball to right field that dropped in front of Mariah Peace for a double. Halter scored on a squeeze bunt and Klug touched home after the third Tech error of the game.
They tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth inning. Three more Golden Suns errors contributed to the scoring. Arkansas Tech threatened in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two out. Ashlyn White induced a pop out to earn the save