BENTONVILLE, Ark. - A sixth-inning sacrifice fly by Regan Dillon proved the difference as third-seeded Southern Arkansas edged second-seeded Harding, 2-1, in a battle of two of the Central Region's top five teams in Saturday's second Great American Conference Softball Championship semifinal contest.
Baylie Thornton threw 3.0 innings of scoreless softball in relief of Sydney Ward to pick up the win, her 15th in 17 decisions.
SAU (41-12) scored first when Alyssa Miller singled home Hamilton, who narrowly avoided the tag of the Lady Bisons' Chelsea Blankenship, in the third inning. Two innings later, the Lady Bisons (44-12) leveled the contest when Tedi Nunn scored on a throwing error.
SAU earned its fourth trip to the title game of the GAC Championships. The Muleriders won in 2014 and 2016. Harding awaits an at-large berth to the Central Region Championships.
GAME 1 - Southeastern Oklahoma State 3, Southern Nazarene 1
Southeastern Oklahoma State's Reese Taylor threw her second-straight complete game at the 2023 Great American Conference Softball Championships - Presented by Under Armour - to lead the Savage Storm to a 3-1 win against Southern Nazarene and secure a spot in Saturday evening's title contest.
Taylor gave up seven hits, struck out four and walked only one in earning her 11th win. In two GAC Championship starts, she owns a 0.50 ERA and has totaled seven strikeouts.
After neither team scored in the first three innings, the Savage Storm (32-25) pushed a run across in the fourth inning on a single by Kamryn Rackley. An inning later, Iliana Olivares brought up two more runs on a single to left field.
The lone tally for the Crimson Storm (25-28) came in the home half of the fifth inning when McKayla Franks scored on a throwing error.
This appearance in the title game for Southeastern represents a GAC-record sixth trip to the final. The Savage Storm's lone title came in 2013. They will face the winner of Harding and Southern Arkansas. Southeastern won its regular-season series with the Lady Bisons, two games to one, but lost all three contests to the Muleriders.