Box Score

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – A five-run bottom of the second inning by East Central proved to be too much to overcome for the Southern Arkansas softball team as they had their 2013 season come to an end after falling to East Central by a score of 7-3  in an elimination game of the GAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
 
In that second inning, the Lady Tigers (41-12) sent 10 batters to the plate and strung together six hits in the frame. All six hits in the frame were singles, but two of them caused the most damage as each scored two runs as the ball found its way up the middle of the infield.
 
In the next half inning, the Lady Muleriders (27-30) would get on the board as Brittany Wood singled to right field to score Sarah Higginbotham, who led off the inning with a single to left field.
 
Neither team would score over the next two innings as the score remained 5-1 in favor of East Central through five innings.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Tigers would add two more runs of insurance to take a 7-1 lead into the top of the seventh. In that inning, the Lady Muleriders would put together a valiant rally as they scored a pair of runs to cut the deficit to four runs, 7-3.
 
Higginbotham started the rally as she walked to lead off the inning for the Lady Muleriders. In the next at-bat, Kelci Garza energized the Lady Muleriders as she blasted a two-run homerun out to left field. A double to the same part of the field by Darian Harris in the next at-bat kept the rally in order, but East Central's Lacey Paulk was able to retire the next three batters to end the game.
 
With the loss, the Lady Muleriders end their season with a 27-30 overall record. The 27 wins are the most wins in a season since 2007 when that team went 27-27.