Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Southern Arkansas softball team entered Sunday's doubleheader with Delta State needing one homerun to set a new program record for the most team homeruns hit in a season (50). By the end of the second game, they would hit five homeruns (55), with four coming in the second game alone. Even with the five total homeruns, however, the Lady Muleriders would be forced to split the twin-bill, winning the first game, 9-5, and dropping the second game, 4-7.
 
The first homerun and subsequent record-setter came in the top of the third inning of the opening game. Freshman designated player Maddie Dow would do the honors as she hit a solo homerun with one out in the inning. Dow's solo shot broke a one-all tie and sparked an eventual seven-run inning by the Lady Muleriders (25-21) as they grabbed a commanding 8-1 lead.
 
That lead would grow to eight runs, 9-1, in the top of the fourth as Sarah Higginbotham's groundout to the shortstop allowed Shelby Miller to score on a throwing error by the Delta State first baseman. The Lady Statesmen (21-21) would score four runs in the bottom of that frame, however, to bring the game to its eventual final of 9-5.
 
In the second game of the day, the Lady Muleriders would score single runs in each of the first four innings. All four of those runs scored would come via the longball with Dow and Higginbotham accounting for the homeruns as each hit a pair of solo homeruns.
 
In-between the homerun derby between Dow and Higginbotham, the Lady Statesmen plated their first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. In the fourth, DSU would score another run to make it a 4-2 game.
 
In the sixth, the Lady Statesmen would put together a game-changing rally against reliever Miller, who started that inning in the circle. Consecutive singles to start the frame paved the way for an eventual five-run inning, turning a two-run deficit into a three-run lead and eventual final margin of victory for the Lady Statesmen.
 
The Lady Muleriders will now prepare for a road doubleheader against Division I Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday, April 15. That doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.