Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A 3-1 win in the opener and a come-from-behind 5-4 win in the nightcap on Saturday afternoon gave the Southern Arkansas softball team an opening day doubleheader sweep against Shorter University on the first day of the UWF Spring Invitational.
 
In the opener, the Lady Muleriders (2-0) got contributions from familiar and new faces alike. The familiar face came in the form of Hanna Gill, who would turn in a solid starting pitching performance. The junior right-hander would go the distance in the circle as she allowed just three hits, one unearned run while striking out four.  
 
That lone run given up by Gill (1-0) came in the first inning of the game as the Lady Hawks took advantage of a leadoff walk and three Lady Mulerider errors. After that inning however, the Lady Mulerider defense would not commit another error and Gill would scatter three hits and strand five base runners.
 
In the Lady Mulerider half of the fifth inning is when the contributions from the club's talented newcomers would come into play as freshman Maddie Dow belted her first career homerun. The two-out bomb by Dow was a two-run shot that gave the Lady Muleriders a 2-1 lead.
 
Two innings later, fellow freshman Brooke Goad jacked her first career homerun as she left the yard for a solo shot to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Lady Muleriders. Gill would come out in the bottom half of that frame and worked around a one-out single to close out the game.
 
In the nightcap, the Lady Muleriders fell behind 4-0 before a monster five-run bottom of the sixth inning gave SAU a one-run lead, 5-4.
 
That game-changing inning started off with Taylor Guin singling to centerfield. Following that, Goad and Dow drew walks to load the bases with no outs. Next up for the Lady Muleriders was freshman Shelby Miller. Miller, who started the game in the circle and was on the hook for the loss at that time, helped her own cause as she cleared the bases with a triple down the leftfield line. Four batters later, Miranda Cuff, another freshman, gave the Lady Muleriders a 5-4 lead after she singled through the right side of the infield scoring pinch-runner Brittany Johnson and Miller.
 
Cuff would then come out in the next half inning and pitched a scoreless frame to secure her first collegiate save.
 
The Lady Muleriders will return to action on Sunday as they will take on nationally-ranked No. 6 Valdosta State in a doubleheader. First-pitch for the first game is scheduled for 1 p.m.