MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider softball team concluded a midweek road trip with a doubleheader sweep of Gulf South Conference member Christian Brothers University, 11-5 and 14-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Bland Field in Memphis, Tennessee.
Southern Arkansas blasted seven homeruns during the two game set to push their team total to 50 through 39 games.
Ashton Atwell left the yard three times on Wednesday, while senior
Leigha Doyle connected on her first two homeruns as a Lady Mulerider.
Maddie Dow and
Sarah Higginbotham also went deep in the wins.
Offensively, the Lady Muleriders' (21-18) 25 runs came on 26 hits, while they also played perfect in the field by committing no errors behind SAU starters
Jami Godwin and
Chancy Williams.
Atwell and Dow started the run-scoring fest with back-to-back homeruns, a two-run shot and solo homerun respectively, in the top of the first that put SAU up 3-0. CBU answered with a pair of runs in their first at bat, but SAU picked up two more runs in the second on RBI singles from
Courtney Hudgins and Atwell.
In the fifth, Atwell cranked her twelfth homerun of the year to put SAU out front 6-2. A sacrifice fly by Doyle and an RBI single from
Darian Harris gave the Lady Muleriders a six run advantage, 8-2.
After a two-run homerun by CBU in the fifth, Doyle padded the four run lead with her first career homerun on a three-run shot to centerfield that gave SAU an 11-4 lead.
In the second game, Southern Arkansas picked up where they left off offensively as Harris plated the first run of the game on an RBI single in the second inning. Williams kept CBU bats in check by throwing a hitless first and second innings, before working out of a bases loaded jam in the third and around a leadoff single in the fourth.
Atwell collected her third homerun of the afternoon and thirteenth of the year with a two-run shot in the third that cushioned William's' start with a 3-0 lead. SAU would push across a pair of runs in the fourth as Harris drove in a run with an infield single and Hudgins collected an RBI with a fielder's choice.
With one out in the fifth, Higginbotham put a charge into a two-run homerun down the left field line that gave the Lady Muleriders a comfortable 7-0 lead. Two batters later, Doyle collected her second career bomb with a two-RBI shot into centerfield to give SAU a 9-0 lead heading in to the home half of the fifth.
CBU would not go away easy as the Lady Bucs rallied for four runs on six hits to stave off the run rule. After a quick SAU sixth, Christian Brothers added another run before Williams pitched around a potential game-tying, bases loaded situation to preserve a 9-5 Lady Mulerider lead. Southern Arkansas scored five runs in the seventh inning off of five hits and one error to take the nonconference doubleheader.
Atwell collected five hits, four runs and six RBI, while Harris finished with a pair of three-hit performances. Doyle also collected six RBI on the afternoon.
With an off weekend ahead, Southern Arkansas will take the field again on Friday, April 17, for a four game GAC series with Southern Nazarene in what will be the final home games of the 2015 season. Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., while Saturday, April 18, will serve as Senior Day with a twin bill beginning at noon.
