BENTONVILLE, Arkansas - For only the second time since 2018, the top two seeds at the Great American Conference Softball Championships reached the final as Southern Arkansas edged Harding and Oklahoma Baptist rallied against defending champion Southern Nazarene. The Bison's Ally Ryan hit a game-winning three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
GAME 6 - No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist 6, No. 3 Southern Nazarene 4
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Courtesy OBUBison.com - In a dramatic Great American Conference Tournament semifinal game, Oklahoma Baptist rallied in the bottom of the seventh to stun Southern Nazarene, 6-4, at Bentonville's Tiger Athletic Complex.
Trailing 4-3 entering the final frame, the Bison found late-game heroics when Ally Ryan crushed a three-run, walk-off homer to left-center, scoring Greenlee Wells and pinch-runner Ayzia Shirey. The clutch blast capped off a back-and-forth affair and sent OBU (36-16) into the tourney championship, while SNU (33-21) was left heartbroken.
SNU held narrow leads through much of the game. The Crimson Storm scratched across single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, highlighted by a sacrifice fly from Eden Anderson and an RBI single from Hailey Evans. Kelsi Hilton sparked the offense with two runs scored and a hit.
OBU answered each time though. A two-run double from Sammie Greene tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth, and Nichelle Marshall's solo homer in the sixth evened things up again (3-3).
In the circle, Morgan Max (7-8) earned the win in relief, tossing three innings while allowing two earned runs. She also added a crucial seventh-inning double that set the stage for Ryan's walk-off.
SNU starter Jaiden Worthington (10-5) was effective early but struggled late, surrendering five hits, eight walks, and six earned runs in a grueling 133-pitch outing.
Offensively, both teams managed just five or six hits, but OBU's patience at the plate—drawing eight walks—proved decisive. Ryan led the way with three RBI, while Greene and Marshall each drove in key runs. Speaking of walks, Max moved her season total to 37, surpassing Jayme Boyer's 2007 single-season record of 36.
GAME 5 - No. 1 Southern Arkansas 2, No. 4 Harding 1
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Courtesy MuleriderAthletics.com - BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The Great American Conference Championship Tournament's semifinal round took place on Friday, May 2, and debuting for the round were the top-seeded Muleriders of Southern Arkansas and the fourth-seeded Harding Lady Bisons. The two squads had their fourth meeting this season at the Tiger Athletic Complex after the Blue and Gold took all three of the regular season while inside the Dr. Margaret Downing Softball Complex.
Southern Arkansas took game four as well in an all-around defensive battle to the very end with a final score of 2-1.
In the fourth meeting between the two in-state foes, the Lady Bisons gained the advantage early within the top of the second inning after Jadyn Booth scored an unearned run on a passed ball that followed Emma Curry striking out, 1-0.
Harding's Brooklyn Gobble got the start and completed the game in which she recorded six strikeouts and only three hits. Gobble started hot as she kept the Muleriders cold through four innings until Jenna Huey broke the silence in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off solo shot to tie the game and her second home run in both contests thus far into the GAC Tournament. Following Huey was Payton Owens that walked and advanced to second after the first out and Regan Dillon walking to first. After the second out of the half inning, America Rubio singled up the middle to centerfield to score Owens before the end of the fifth. The Muleriders led 2-1 and that was all the group needed to claim their ticket to the Great American Conference Tournament Championship game set for 12:30 PM tomorrow.
After a slow start, Brinson Rogers surrendered just one run (unearned), one walk, and allowed seven hits. The senior accounted for five strikeouts in the outing and has reached 280 strikeouts this season after her 25th complete game this season.