MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Runs were not easy to come by for either club on Friday afternoon at the SAU Softball Complex as the Southern Arkansas Softball team split a doubleheader with Henderson State that saw a pair of pitching duels in the circle end with late-inning heroics at the plate as the Lady Muleriders took the series opener 2-1 via a walk off in the eighth inning, before the Reddies topped SAU 3-2 in game two.

The Lady Muleriders' (24-3, 16-3 GAC) four combined runs came on 12 total hits, while Henderson State's (18-16, 9-13 GAC) four runs emanated from nine total hits. Both teams committed three errors in the field, behind solid outings in the circle for each team.

In the opener, SAU starter Kimmy Beasley (14-0) dominated from the outset as she tallied eight strikeouts through the first three innings of play, while carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning with two outs, before her counterpart in the Reddie circle, Michelle Sorenson (11-8), delivered her fourth base hit of the year to end the no-hit bid. That base hit was one of two that HSU recorded in game one and it resulted in Olivia Trapp running the Reddies out of the inning as Liz Hudgins threw Trapp out trying to advance to third on the Sorenson single.

Well before that play, Southern Arkansas had found the scoreboard in the second inning and broke a scoreless tie as Tyler Casada singled home Ashton Atwell, who led-off the frame with a base knock into right centerfield.

Beasley matched a career-high in strikeouts with a dozen on Friday afternoon, but would need extra innings to reach that mark as Henderson State's second and final hit of the game left the yard from the lead-off bat of Ashlyn White in the visitor-half of the seventh inning that eventually forced bonus softball for the 375-plus fans in attendance.

Southern Arkansas needed just an extra half-inning to end Friday's series opener as Darian Harris slapped a two-out opposite field single down the line in left field to keep the inning alive for Atwell. In the ensuing at bat, Atwell connected on a double into left centerfield that scored a hustling Harris from first, who got in just before the throw, as SAU recorded their first extra-inning walk off win in 2016.

In the second helping of the twin bill, the Lady Muleriders would again find the scoring column first as Brooke Goad launched a one-out solo dinger, her 15^th homerun of the year, over the right field fence for an early 1-0 SAU lead. Defensively, SAU erased an HSU run in the top-half of the inning as an ordinary 1-3-2 double play ended the Reddie threat.

Kaylee Garner (10-3) worked around HSU runners in scoring position in the first four innings of play, before the Reddies manufactured a game-tying run in the top of the fifth inning. HSU's Shayla Wright walked to lead-off the inning and quickly found her way home as she stole second, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single up the middle to tie the game at a run apiece.

Taylor Guin delivered in the bottom of the fifth inning for Southern Arkansas as she placed a double into the right centerfield gap scoring pinch-runner Kim Whelehon pushing SAU back out front, 2-1, off of HSU starter Madison Calvert.

The Lady Muleriders looked to add an insurance run for Garner in the fifth as Maddie Dow led-off the inning with a double down the right field line, but pinch-runner Sydney Johnson would be erased on the next at-bat as a fly-out from Harris ended in a double play as Johnson was thrown out trying to take third base. SAU would come away empty in the bottom of the sixth, before HSU's White delivered with a one-out two-RBI single through the right side that proved to be the difference in the game as the Reddies tied the series at a game apiece.

The heart of the Southern Arkansas lineup supplied the damage on Friday afternoon as Harris, Atwell, and Casada combined for eight hits led by Atwell's four.

The series will conclude tomorrow with a doubleheader first-pitch time of 1 p.m. from the SAU Softball Complex. Live stats and live video will be available. Admission is free for fans, but pets will be $10 each as Saturday's twin bill serves as Mulerider Athletics' "Bark at the Park/Community" Day. All proceeds will be donated to the H&P Animal Alliance. For more information on the event, follow this link: http://muleriderathletics.com/news/2016/3/24/first-pitch-times-changed-for-sau-softballs-gac-series-with-henderson-state.aspx?path=softball.

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