BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- After a lengthy 12-inning, 3-2 victory over East Central to open Great American Conference Tournament play, No. 18 Southern Arkansas topped Henderson State 5-3 after holding off a late rally by the sixth-seed in a winner's bracket affair on Thursday night at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The Lady Muleriders (43-8) advance in the bracket and will continue play on Friday morning at 11 a.m., between the Arkansas Tech/Harding winner that is currently being decided.
All-GAC Second-Team Pitcher
Kaylee Garner added to her league-leading wins total as she notched victory no. 22, behind a complete game performance that saw the junior scatter six hits and suppress a three-run seventh inning by the Reddies as Southern Arkansas claimed their fourth win over HSU in 2016.
Seven of the nine SAU starters recorded a hit, while
Taylor Guin led SAU with a pair of hits.
Tyler Casada and
Darian Harris plated a pair of runs each, while Guin added a single RBI.
SAU plated four runs in the third inning to break a scoreless tie, courtesy of a pair of run-scoring doubles and a sacrifice fly. Guin doubled off the glove of a diving HSU second baseman allowing
Summer Ehrig to score and Harris followed with a two-run double plating
Liz Hudgins and Guin.
Casada concluded the run-scoring frame with a sacrifice fly that pushed Harris home as SAU took a 4-0 lead after three innings. A single by Casada in the fifth inning scored
Maddie Dow resulting in the final SAU run of the evening, before the Reddies manufactured a late rally in the seventh.
Three of the first four batters in the HSU seventh singled, while an RBI-groundout followed by a two-run double with two outs brought the Reddies to within a pair of runs, 5-3, before Garner induced a foulout to Harris to end the threat.
Live stats and live video links for SAU's winner's bracket matchup with the Arkansas Tech/Harding winner are available here:
http://www.greatamericanconference.com/index.aspx?path=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, including recaps of all the SAU action this weekend in Bentonville.
