Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas softball team picked up their first Great American Conference series win this season as they won both ends of Saturday afternoon's doubleheader at Ouachita Baptist.
 
Freshman utility player Shelby Miller was key in both wins as she pitched a five-hit shutout and blasted a three-run homerun in the Lady Muleriders' (9-9, 4-4 GAC) 4-0 win in the opener. In the nightcap, Miller came back with two hits, scored a run, and picked up the save as she got the final two outs to secure the 4-1 win for SAU.
 
Game one was a classic pitcher's duel as Miller and OBU's Abby Frakes combined to allow just two hits over the first five innings of play. Both of those hits belonged to the Lady Tigers (7-11, 3-5 GAC) as Frakes was perfect to that point of the game, not allowing a single Lady Mulerider to reach base.
 
In the top of the sixth, however, the Lady Muleriders would break through against Frakes in a big way. Leigha Doyle led off the frame with a first-pitch single. Kim Whelehon then reached on an error by the Lady Tigers' second baseman, allowing Doyle to advance to third. A sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat by Courtney Hudgins moved Whelehon to second base, giving the Lady Muleriders two runners in scoring position with only one out.
 
Brooke Goad then applied even more pressure to Frakes in the circle, as she drew a walk to load the bases. Dow would then hit into a fielder's choice as Frakes got the force of Doyle at the plate for the second out, but the bases remained loaded. Needing just one more out to escape the inning and keep her shutout intact, Frakes uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Whelehon to score the game's first run. Moments later, Miller helped her own cause in a major way as she blasted a three-run bomb to give the Lady Muleriders a 4-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Tigers, now trailing by four runs, would threaten to score with a pair of one-out hits, but Miller worked out of the inning unscathed. In the next inning, Miller would work around a two-out single to secure the win for the Lady Muleriders.
 
All told, Miller would scatter five hits, walk one and strikeout four batters as she worked seven complete innings for her first-career shutout victory.
 
In the second game of the day, the Lady Muleriders quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings of play as they scored a pair of runs in the second inning and added a single run in the third.
 
The two runs in the second inning came on a double by Goad as she drove in Hudgins and Taylor Guin. The run in the third came on a RBI single by Ashley Quintana, scoring Sarah Higginbotham.
 
Game two starter Miranda Cuff would make that score stand until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Lady Tigers scored a run to make it a 3-1 game. An insurance run in the top of the seventh inning gave the Lady Muleriders a three-run lead once more.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Tigers would position themselves for possibly another heart-breaking walk-off win as they load the bases with one out thanks to a walk and consecutive singles. That bases-loaded jam would spell the end of the day for Cuff as she was relieved by Miller.
 
Miller would be forced to work the count full to each of the two batters she faced en route to her third save of the season, but Miller would win each at-bat as she got a flyout and a strikeout looking to end the game.
 
The Lady Muleriders will now prepare to play their first games at home this season as they will play host to Henderson State in a four-game series starting on Saturday, March 8. First-pitch of the opening game is set for 1 p.m. at Lady Mulerider field.