BENTONVILLE, Ark. - In Friday's 2014 Great American Conference Softball Championship action top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State advanced to Saturday's title game with a 9-2 victory against second-seeded Southern Arkansas. The Lady Muleriders recovered and beat Henderson State to join the Savage Storm in "Championship Saturday."
#2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 3, #3 HENDERSON STATE 1 || BOX SCORE ||
Shelby Miller tossed a five-hitter and aided her own cause with a two-run home run as Southern Arkansas (35-24) advanced to the GAC Softball Tournament championship contest with a 3-1 victory over Henderson State (30-25).
SAU pounded out 10 hits and had plenty of scoring opportunities, but stranded 14 runners on base. The Muleriders accounted for all of their scoring in the fourth frame. Miller's two-run blast brought home Taylor Guin. The third and final run came courtesy of a bases-loaded walk drawn by Chelsea Ivy that forced home Audrey Farfan.
Henderson State averted the shutout in the sixth. Jennifer Baldridge singled to open the inning and eventually came around to score on Tricia Hock's RBI ground out to shortstop.
Miller struck out five and walked none to move her record to 14-13 on the season. Kayla Williams went the distance to take the loss for Henderson State and fell to 7-11. She walked three, hit three batters, and fanned none.
SAU shortstop Leigha Doyle led all hitters with three hits. Miller, Guin, and Sarah Higginbotham each added two hits for the Muleriders. Williams topped the HSU box score with two hits in as many at-bats.
Second-seeded Southern Arkansas moves into Saturday's 12 p.m. championship game versus defending champion and top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Muleriders must win twice to capture the school's first GAC softball championship.
#3 HENDERSON STATE 11, #7 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 2 || BOX SCORE ||
Henderson State (31-24) stayed alive in the GAC Softball Tournament with an 11-2 run rule victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
Ashlyn White powered the Lady Reddies with a pair of home runs and five runs batted in. Amber Klug added a 2-for-3 effort with three runs scored and as many runs batted in. Amy Halter also chipped in with three hits as HSU ended with 14 hits on the evening.
UAM struck in the opening inning when Sydney Tipton's single plated McKenzie Rice to give the Cotton Blossoms a 1-0 lead. However, the Lady Reddies posted a pair in the fourth, five in the fifth, and four more in the sixth to pull away.
Cagen Medlock tossed a complete game for HSU and picked up the win. She scattered five hits and fanned a pair of hitters. Courtney Wilson, who was touched for seven hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings, took the defeat for UAM.
Henderson State stays on the field to square off with Southern Arkansas. The winner gains a spot in tomorrow's 12 p.m. championship game versus defending champion Southeastern Oklahoma State.
#1 SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 9, #2 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 2 || BOX SCORE ||
Defending champion Southeastern Oklahoma State (38-15) unleashed a 14-hit attack to defeat Southern Arkansas (34-24) 9-2 in the winner's bracket final of the 2014 Great American Conference Softball Tournament.
Winning pitcher Mindy McElroy retired 15 of the final 18 hitters that she faced to raise her record to 24-7. She also helped her own cause with a pair of hits. The GAC Pitcher of the Year scattered seven hits and walked a pair in the complete game victory.
Eight of the nine starters in the SE lineup ended with at least one hit, including a four-hit afternoon for Laramie Beal.
Southeastern broke open a close game with a four-run fourth inning to stretched their lead to 7-2. Sydney Kramer's two-run triple to left was the key blow for the Savage Storm during the pivotal frame.
Southern Arkansas starter Hanna Gill allowed eight hits and five earned runs in four innings in falling to 11-4. Maddie Dow accounted for the lone Mulerider RBI with a second inning single.
SAU falls into the elimination bracket and will face Henderson State or Arkansas-Monticello later this evening. Southeastern Oklahoma State advances to tomorrow's 12 p.m. championship game.
#3 HENDERSON STATE 4, #5 EAST CENTRAL 3 || BOX SCORE ||
Amber Klug's three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh lifted Henderson State (30-24) to a stunning 4-3 victory against East Central (33-25) in a GAC Softball Tournament elimination contest.
East Central had taken a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh after tallying single runs in the sixth and seventh frames.
Both starters had effective afternoons, but did not figure in the decision. Henderson State's Kayla Williams allowed seven hits and two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. East Central's Sydney Dow fanned four, while allowing seven hits and and a lone run.
Lacey Paulk suffered the setback for ECU, giving up three runs and a pair of hits. Ashlyn White retired both hitters that she faced in the top of the seventh to record the win for the Lady Reddies.
Henderson State owned a 9-7 advantage in hits. Klug, Williams, Amy Halter, and Alicia Zack each accounted for two hits. Kaile Marcum was the lone Tiger to record a pair of safeties.
HSU advances to face Arkansas-Monticello in another elimination contest later this afternoon.
#7 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 11, #4 HARDING 8 || BOX SCORE ||
Channing Tharp's three-run fifth inning home run snapped a 5-5 tie and Arkansas-Monticello went on to eliminate Harding 11-8 in Friday's Great American Conference Softball Tournament opener.
Kali Piha, Sydney Tipton, and Brittany Eitel each notched two hits to help power a 10-hit UAM (28-29) attack. The Cotton Blossoms also took advantage of six Harding errors. McKenzie Rice contributed a first inning, leadoff home run for UAM.
Harding (32-26), which scored in each of the game's final five innings, did not go down without a fight despite trailing 11-5 entering the sixth inning. The Bisons got the potential winning run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh before UAM's Katie Slaughter finally escaped the jam by inducing a lineout by Kinsey Beck and a comebacker by Carolyn Clayton.
Marley Edwards finished 4-for-4 to top the Bisons' 13-hit effort. Beck, Courtney Chambers, Jessica Greene, and Brookelynn Moon also enjoyed multiple-hit afternoons with two safeties each.
Pitchers suffered a rough afternoon in the GAC Softball Tournament's highest scoring contest on record. Slaughter picked up the win to move to 15-13, allowing four hits, and three runs (one earned) in 2 1/3 innings. Danielle Hubbard, the second of three Harding pitchers, was tagged with the defeat and saw her record drop to 12-12.
Arkansas-Monticello, the tournament's seventh seed, advances to face either East Central or Henderson State in a late afternoon elimination contest.