2012 GAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP HOME PAGE
BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Two upsets by No. 6 seed Southern Arkansas highlighted the first day of the inaugural Great American Conference Softball Championship Tournament at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville.
The Lady Muleriders started the day with a 9-0, six-inning win over No. 3 seed East Central, and followed later with a 2-0, nine-inning win over No. 2 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State on a two-run walk-off homerun from Taelor Wheeler in the bottom of the ninth frame to break a scoreless tie and send SAU into the finals of the winner’s bracket.
SAU’s winner’s bracket opponent is regular season champion and No. 1 seed Arkansas-Monticello, which defeated No. 8 Ouachita Baptist 9-1 (5 innings) and No. 4 Southwestern Oklahoma State 1-0 on Thursday in the first and second rounds.
The Lady Muleriders and Cotton Blossoms will face off against each other on Friday at approximately 3 p.m. at the Tiger Athletic Complex (TAC).
In the bottom bracket, SWOSU is set to face off against No. 7 seed Arkansas Tech, which began the day by losing to Southeastern Oklahoma State 8-2, but responded with a 2-1 upset over East Central in the first round of the loser’s bracket. That game was played at Memorial Park in Bentonville. ATU and SWOSU open the slate of Friday games with an 11 a.m. first pitch.
At 1 p.m. on Friday, No. 5 seed Henderson State and Southeastern Oklahoma State will go head-to-head in the other loser’s bracket game. Henderson State’s journey in the inaugural conference championship tournament began with a 5-1 setback to SWOSU in the opening round. The Lady Reddies responded by racking up 16 hits and holding Ouachita Baptist to just two in a 12-0, six-inning win over the Lady Tigers in the first round of the loser’s bracket. That game was also played at Memorial Park.
The winner of the SWOSU vs. ATU and HSU vs. SOSU games will meet at 5 p.m. on Friday at the TAC, with the winner of the game going up against the loser of the winner’s bracket game between SAU and UAM at 7 p.m. The winner of the SAU-UAM game will advance to the tournament finals, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 28 at noon.
Friday’s games were not carried live on the GAC Sports Network webcast due to technical difficulties. The GAC will work continuously to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. All games throughout the remainder of the tournament can be followed via live stats through links on the tournament home page. Follow the GAC on Facebook (Great American Conference) and Twitter (@GACAthletics) for additional updates.