Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After losing a pitcher's duel by a run, 3-2, in the opener, the Southern Arkansas softball team came back with a vengeance in the nightcap as they scored nine runs on 17 hits en route to a 9-1 win to earn a split with Ouachita Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Sully Anderson Field.
 
In the opener, the Lady Muleriders (26-26, 16-16 GAC) scored twice in the third inning to take a slim 2-1 lead. That score would stand until the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Tigers (16-31, 10-20 GAC) regained the lead, 3-2, as they scored a pair of runs on three hits off of SAU starter Hanna Gill.  
 
The two-run fifth for the Lady Tigers would prove to be the difference and final score in the game as OBU starter Abbi Frakes held the Lady Muleriders hitless over the final two innings as she closed out the opening-game win for the Lady Tigers.
 
In the nightcap, the Lady Muleriders would get their offense rolling early as they scored single runs in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Lady Tigers would score a run in the bottom of the second inning to make it a one-run game, 2-1.
 
Two innings later, the Lady Muleriders broke the game open in the top of the fourth when they pounded out six hits as they scored four runs in the frame to extend their lead out to 6-1. In that inning, Kelsey Fisher, Spanko, Lauren Witzke, and Higginbotham all had RBIs.
 
The runs and hits would just keep coming in the next at-bats for the Lady Muleriders as they scored twice more on four hits in the fifth to take a commanding 8-1 lead. In the fifth, Chio Samayoa collected a RBI and in the next at-bat, Brittany Wood scored the second run of the inning when Samayoa was caught trying to steal second base.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, the Lady Muleriders would add another run of insurance for game-two starter Taylor Clifton. Clifton, who was spectacular in the start by allowing just one earned run on three hits, would secure her seventh win of the season as she pitched a scoreless bottom half of the seventh.
 
All-told, eight batters in the Lady Muleriders' lineup would record a hit in the nightcap, with six of those registering multiple hits. Taylor Guin, Spanko, and Samayoa were each 3-for-4 while Fisher, Kelci Garza, and Wood were 2-for-4.
 
The two teams will conclude the series and their regular season with a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 1:00 p.m.