Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas softball team took a break from Great American Conference play on Friday afternoon as they played host to former conference foe, Delta State. DSU would get the best of SAU in both ends of the doubleheader as they came away with a 4-2 win in the opener and then an 8-3 win in the nightcap.
 
In the opener, the Lady Statesmen (20-20) would strike first as they plated a pair in the top of the first inning off of SAU starter Shelby Miller. Delta would score another run in the top of the second inning to take an early 3-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the third, Audrey Farfan put the Lady Muleriders (24-20) on the board as she doubled to left field, scoring Miller, who singled up the middle two batters prior. A two-out single in the top of the fifth, however, pushed the Lady Statesmen lead back out to three runs, 4-1.
 
The Lady Muleriders would get that run back in a major way in the next inning as Miller lead off with a mammoth homerun beyond the row of trucks behind the left field fence. Miller's homerun came on a 3-0 pitch. Maddie Dow then reached first base on an error by the Lady Statesmen shortstop, but DSU starting pitcher Taylor Tucker would get the next three outs in relative short order to thwart the Lady Mulerider rally.
 
SAU would put together another rally attempt in the bottom of the sixth as Taylor Guin bunted Chelsea Ivy and Courtney Hudgins into scoring position with two outs for Miller. Both Ivy and Hudgins singled before Guin's sacrifice. Miller would work the count into her favor, 3-1, but Tucker avoided any damage as she got Miller to groundout to third base to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, with the Lady Muleriders still trailing 4-2, Dow would single to right field to lead off the inning. A fielder's choice and a pair of pop-outs, however, followed to end the game.
 
In the nightcap, the Lady Muleriders would be the first ones to score as they plated a pair in the bottom of the first. The first of those runs was a solo homerun off the bat of Dow. The second was a RBI single off of the bat of Sarah Higginbotham, scoring Farfan.
 
The Lady Statesmen would get on the board with a single run in the top of the second to make it a 2-1 game. After neither team scored in the third, the Lady Statesmen grabbed the lead, 4-2, in the fourth as they scored three runs.
 
A solo homerun by Ashley Quintana to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning brought the Lady Muleriders to within a run, 4-3, but the Lady Statesmen would score four runs in the top of the fifth to push the game to its eventual final of 8-3. Quintana's homerun was the first in her career.
 
These two teams will take a day off before squaring off once more, this time for a doubleheader at Delta State. That twin-bill is scheduled for a first-pitch of 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 13.