ALVA, Okla. – Behind 12 innings of dominant pitching and an offensive explosion in the series opener, Southern Arkansas took Saturday's Great American Conference doubleheader with Northwestern Oklahoma State at the Alva Recreational Complex by scores of  16-1 and 1-0 as they became the fastest team in program history to reach the twenty-win plateau.
 
The Lady Muleriders (20-2, 12-2 GAC) push their winning streak to seven games and become the second team in the GAC this season to reach 20 wins as they sit in third-place in the latest league standings. Saturday's action saw Southern Arkansas' offensive erupt for ten first-inning runs en route to their thirteenth run-rule victory of the season in game one, before SAU starter Kaylee Garner (9-2) carried a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning of the second game as she tied a season-high with ten strikeouts in a 1-0 win.
 
In the series opener, Brooke Goad put the Lady Muleriders on the scoreboard first in her lead-off at-bat as she blasted her 11^th homerun of the year giving SAU an early 1-0 lead. Seven of the next nine SAU batters would reach base without having to swing as Northwestern Oklahoma State issued six walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a pair of pitching changes; putting the Lady Muleriders up 5-0 with two outs in the inning.
 
The damage wasn't done in the first as a two-out double from Taylor Guin plated two runs to push the SAU lead to 7-0, before a wild pitch in Maddie Dow's at-bat advanced Guin to third and plated Goad as Southern Arkansas raced to an 8-0 advantage on only a pair of hits in the top of the first inning. Dow concluded the run-scoring frame with a two-run homerun, her ninth of the season, which gave Lady Mulerider starter Kimmy Beasley (11-0) more than enough run support.
 
After Beasley recorded an infield groundout and a pair of K's in the home half of the first, SAU tacked on two more runs in the second inning as Liz Hudgins doubled into centerfield plating a pair as SAU lead 12-0 through an inning and a half of play.
 
The Lady Rangers lone run of the afternoon came in the bottom of the second as Jordan Haya lead-off with a solo homerun. Southern Arkansas would get that run back and three more in the visitor-half of the third inning courtesy of a two-run blast from Ashton Atwell, an infield error by the Lady Rangers and an RBI-single from Hudgins as the Lady Muleriders led by 15 runs after three innings of play.
 
Beasley K'd a pair of Lady Rangers in the third inning ending her day as Chancy Williams entered in relief to begin the fourth inning (2^nd appearance of the season) and worked around a runner at third to retire Northwestern Oklahoma. In the fifth, Peyton Jenkins recorded her first inning of work as a Lady Mulerider and collected a pair of strikeouts for her efforts to finish off the series opener. It was the first time in 2016 that Southern Arkansas had three pitchers enter the circle in a single game.
 
The second game of the afternoon saw a decline in offensive production, but the effort in the Lady Mulerider circle was just as strong as Garner scattered just one hit, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch in seven strong innings, while matching a season-high in strikeouts with ten. Dow plated the only run Garner would need on Saturday as Taylor Stricklin raced home on the former's fourth sacrifice-fly of the season in the fifth inning.
 
Nine of Garner's ten strikeouts came via swinging, while the junior right-hander produced her fourth one-hitter of the season. Garner's lone blemish through five innings was a lead-off walk in the third inning, before the aforementioned lone base knock in the sixth and a hit-by-pitch in the seventh served as the only imperfections in the junior's ninth win of the season.
 
The day's 17 total runs came via 16 total hits, 14 walks, and one-hit-by pitch. Southern Arkansas hit three doubles, three homeruns and a triple, while swiping a pair of bases. The dominant dozen innings in the circle by SAU came with strong support in the field as the Lady Muleriders were perfect fielding in both games.
 
Hudgins, the GAC's reigning Player of the Week, led SAU with four hits on the day. Dow collected three hits. Guin, Tyler Casada and Chelsea Jordan added a pair of hits apiece. Atwell and Guin each scored three runs, while Casada, Dow, Goad and Jordan crossed home twice.
 
The Lady Muleriders return to action tomorrow for the final two games of the four-game GAC series with Northwestern Oklahoma beginning at 11 a.m. Live stats for both games can be found here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nwosu/softball/.
 
Be sure to check www.MuleriderAthletics.com or follow us on Twitter @MuleriderSports for the most up-to-date news on Lady Mulerider Softball.