2017 GAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY ONE RECAP
By: Eric Moyer, GAC Communications
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Day one of the 2017 GAC Softball Championships concluded with the league's top two seeds - No. 1 Harding and No. 2 Southern Arkansas - standing alone as the two 2-0 teams. No. 3 Arkansas Tech will face No. 8 Ouachita and No. 4 Arkansas-Monticello will take on No. 6 Southern Nazarene in Friday's opening elimination contests.
G8: #1 Harding 2, #4 Arkansas-Monticello 0
GAC Freshman of the Year Autumn Humes extended her GAC record with her 14th shutout as she pitched the Lady Bisons to the Winner's Bracket final with a 2-0 victory against Arkansas-Monticello. She improved to 28-1 as she struck out 10 and allowed only four hits.
The Lady Bison offense provided Humes with single runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, Alexus Lawellin doubled in Courtney Derrick and in the fourth Kimmy Hendricks-Campbell scored when a pitch hit Madi Trump with the bases loaded.
Lawellin collected two of Harding's six hits. UAM's Kendra Coleman produced the lone multi-hit game for the Blossoms, going 2-for-3.
Harding will face Southern Arkansas at 1 p.m. on Friday with a spot in the title game at stake. During the regular season, the Lady Bisons won all four meetings, outscoring the Lady Muleriders 10-2 with a pair of shutouts.
G7: #2 Southern Arkansas 2, #3 Arkansas Tech 1
The Lady Muleriders advanced to the winners bracket final as they used back-to-back home runs from Brooke Goad and GAC Player of the Year Maddie Dow and a triple play in the sixth inning to edge the Golden Suns.
Goad and Dow homered in the same game for the sixth time this season. Dow's home run, her 21st keeps her atop the national lead and moved her to within six of the Division II all-time record. She also walked once to move into second place on all DII career list, eight shy of the record.
Behind the pitching of Victoria Taylor, SAU took a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning. She allowed the first two batters to reach before being pulled for Peyton Jenkins. Janie Knowles reached on an error and Ashton Sangster walked to force in a run. However, with the game in the balance, SAU pulled off a triple play as Cara Tolar lined out to center fielder Rachel Miller. She fired home to cut down the lead runner, Jalissa Gum. Tyler Casada then threw out Alix Boulanger at third base.
An inning later, Tech put two runners on with one out, but Jenkins retired the final two batters to secure the win.
The Golden Suns will face Ouachita in an elimination game at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.
G6: #8 Ouachita 5, #5 East Central 1 (ECU Eliminated)
Ouachita scored its first GAC Championship game win since 2013 as it used the long ball to knock out East Central.
Ouachita's Sarah Johnson opened the scoring by homering to left center as the second batter of the game. Natalie Johnson doubled the lead when she hit a home run to left field in the fourth inning.
After ECU cut into the deficit following a solo shot by Alissa Taylor in the fifth inning, Johnson became just the third player to hit multiple home runs in a single GAC Championship after mashing a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.
Kelsey O'Brien earned the win and Marissa Butler threw 2.0 scoreless innings to pick up the save
The No. 8 seeds improved to 2-11 all-time in GAC Championship play.
G5: #6 Southern Nazarene 2, #7 Henderson State 1 [16] (HSU Eliminated)
The first elimination game of the tournament turned into an epic as the Crimson Storm outlasted the Reddies in the longest GAC Softball Championship game in league history.
Scoreless through five innings, Henderson State took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the sixth inning. Michelle Sorensen, who had not allowed a hit through the first five innings, finally surrendered a hit to Hannah LeBeau that drove in the tying run.
The two combined for nine more scoreless innings. Henderson State's best chance came when it failed to score with bases loaded and one out in the 11th inning. In just the extra innings, the Reddies stranded nine while the Crimson Storm left six on the base paths.
The Crimson Storm ended the stalemate when Amy Reynolds singled to third that scored Riley Brown, who had advanced to third following a wild pitch.
Both starters went the distance. Katelyn Brown earned the win after allowing one unearned run in 16.0 IP. She struck out eight and allowed 11 hits and amassed 254 pitches. Sorensen, who threw 249 pitches, allowed only five hits and one run earned run. She struck out 18 and became the third pitcher in school history to strike out 200 batters in a season.
The Crimson Storm will face Arkansas-Monticello in another elimination game, set for 10:30 a.m. from the Tiger Athletic Complex.
G4: #1 Harding 3, #8 Ouachita 1
Harding, the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 team in the NFCA Top 25, utilized the right arms of First-Team All-GAC pitchers Hannah Johnson and Autumn Humes to open its GAC Championships with a 3-1 win against Ouachita.
Johnson threw 6.0 innings of six-hit, one-run softball to pick up her 23rd win in 27 decisions. Humes pitched a perfect seventh inning for her sixth save.
Offensively, Harding scratched out a run in the second inning and two in the third. In the second, Mackenzie Jones singled up the middle to plate Kimmy Hendricks-Campbell. Any inning later, Peyton Mills tripled home Alexus Lawellin and Amanda Berdon squeezed home Kimberly Slaughter.
With Harding's win, top seeds improved to 6-0 in opening round games against No. 8 seeds. Ouachita has not won a GAC Championship game since 2013.
G3: #4 Arkansas-Monticello 2, #5 East Central 0
The Blossoms opened with a win at the GAC Championships for the first time since 2013 as Kendra Coleman blanked East Central.
Coleman improved to 21-7 as she limited the Tigers to only three hits. The First-Team All-GAC pitcher did not strike out a batter, but did induce 11 ground outs. UAM netted single tallies in the second and third innings. Kaylee Freeman scored on an error in the second inning and Maranda Clendenin powered a solo home run down the left field line in the third.
The Blossoms snapped a five-game losing streak in GAC Championship play. They will face the top-seed Lady Bisons at 6 p.m. at the Tiger Athletic Complex. ECU and Ouachita will play the second elimination game of the day, also at 6 p.m., but from Memorial Park.
G2: #2 Southern Arkansas 7, #7 Henderson State 2
The defending GAC Tournament champion Lady Muleriders opened with their fourth win in five games this season against the Reddies. Monica Islava drove in three runs to pace the offense.
Henderson State struck first with a run in the opening frame when Courtney Warren scored on a Keirsten Seahorn double. SAU answered with two in its half of the first on an Islava single that plated Brooke Goad and Maddie Dow. The Muleriders extended their advantage in the third. Islava doubled home Dow and Chloe Hicks. She came home on a double by Tyler Casada.
After the Reddies pushed across a run in the top of the sixth, the Lady Muleriders responded with a two runs of their own. Faith Otts tripled home Rachel Miller and came home to score on a wild pitch.
Jill Roye entered in the third inning and threw the final 5.0 innings to earn her fifth win in seven decisions. She allowed one run and four hits. Michelle Sorensen suffered the loss as she went the distance. Her record moved to 15-14
G1: #3 Arkansas Tech 2, #6 Southern Nazarene 0
GAC Pitcher of the Year Jalissa Gum struck out 13 and held the Crimson Storm to only two hits in a shutout victory from Bentonville West. She registered her ninth shutout of the season.
After a scoreless first three innings, Tech dented the plate in the home fourth inning. Gum opened the frame with a double and scored on a triple by Ashton Sangster. Sangster scored on a Cara Tolar sacrifice fly.
Gum increased her strikeout total to a Division II-leading 349. The reigning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week has tallied 57 strikeouts in her last four outings, spanning 28.0 innings.
The Golden Suns and Lady Muleriders will square off at 3:30 p.m. from the Tiger Athletic Complex. The Crimson Storm and Reddies will play the first elimination game of the tournament at 3:30 p.m. from Memorial Park.