MONTICELLO, Ark. – An RBI-double off the bat of
Audrey Farfan gave the Southern Arkansas softball team a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning and eventually the win over Arkansas-Monticello in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader as the Lady Muleriders split with UAM at Blossoms Field in Monticello, Arkansas.
The doubleheader split gave the Lady Muleriders (19-18, 11-14 GAC) the series win over Arkansas-Monticello after SAU swept a conference doubleheader against the Cotton Blossoms on March 25 in Magnolia.
UAM scratched a pair of runs off of SAU starter
Jami Godwin in the first inning and added a single run in the third and fifth innings. SAU didn't collect their first hit until the sixth inning, when
Leigha Doyle singled to left field to lead off the inning and eventually scored the lone SAU run on an RBI single by
Ashton Atwell. Southern Arkansas threatened in the seventh with the bases loaded, but UAM's Katie Slaughter worked around it to pick up the 4-1 win.
In the series finale, Southern Arkansas starter
Chancy Williams picked up her fifth win of the season by scattering five hits over seven innings of work.
Arkansas-Monticello again scored in the home half of the first inning on a two-run homerun by Holly Wilmarth. SAU cut into the Cotton Blossom lead in the third as
Chelsea Ivy homered to left field, but the Lady Muleriders stranded the bases loaded to end the threat.
Williams worked a perfect third inning and pitched around a pair of runners in the fourth, before the Lady Muleriders tied the game in the fifth via sacrifice fly by Doyle that made it a 2-2 ballgame. Williams went back to work in the fifth and cruised through the final nine outs of the contest, allowing only two base runners.
With the game tied at two in the seventh,
Maddie Dow drew a leadoff walk that brought
Abby Weaver to first as a pinch runner. Farfan took the second offering of the ensuing at-bat into left centerfield for a double that scored Weaver as the eventual winning run. Williams shut the door on the Cotton Blossoms in the ninth giving SAU the 3-2 win and the series victory.
Farfan finished her afternoon with five hits, including a 4-for-4 performance in the finale. Doyle led SAU with two hits in the second game. Atwell, Ivy and Doyle joined Farfan as all four Lady Muleriders collected an RBI, while Dow drew four walks on the afternoon to push her season total to 35.
The Lady Muleriders face a quick turnaround as the team remains on the road and prepares for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 7, against Christian Brothers. First pitch from Memphis, Tennessee is scheduled for 1 p.m.
