DENVER, Colo. – With a pair of runs in both the first and second innings, No. 15 Southern Arkansas jumped out early on the nation's top-ranked team in West Texas A&M (59-5) and used five solid innings of work in the circle from Lady Mulerider starter Kimmy Beasley to eliminate the Lady Buffs 7-4 and advance in the NCAA Division II Women's College World Series where tonight they will rematch with No. 3 North Alabama at 7:30 p.m. MDT from the beautiful  Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colorado.
 
The Lady Muleriders (53-10) continue their postseason run as they are one of just four teams remaining in the national tournament. Southern Arkansas collected nine hits and benefitted from five West Texas errors as they added to their four early runs with a single run in the fourth inning and a pair of runs in the sixth inning.
 
Beasley (26-5) bounced back in a big way from her tournament opening start as she fired 5.1 innings of work, while collecting five strikeouts and in the process placed the brakes on the nation's second-best team batting average. The Lady Buffs, representatives of the South Central Region, were kept scoreless until the fifth inning when they plated a single run, before adding three in the sixth to end Beasley's day in the circle.
 
SAU reliever Peyton Jenkins entered with one away in the home-half of the sixth inning and ended the West Texas threat as she recorded five outs without giving up a hit en route to her fourth save of the season.
 
Offensively, Southern Arkansas profited by putting the ball in play as they did not strikeout in 49 plate appearances. Seven players accounted for the nine SAU hits led by a pair of hits apiece from Liz Hudgins and Brooke Goad. Goad led the club with three RBI, including a mammoth solo homerun in the fourth inning; her 23^rd of the season. Maddie Dow added a pair of RBI, while Darian Harris and Ashton Atwell drove in a single run each. Hudgins, Guin and Goad scored two runs each and Summer Ehrig added a single run scored.
 
For the second game in a row in Denver, the Lady Muleriders benefitted from a quick start offensively as four SAU hits and three West Texas errors combined for four Southern Arkansas runs early on. Goad delivered an RBI-double in the first inning and Atwell singled through the right side to account for the two runs in the first. In the second, a pair of RBI-groundouts from Goad and Harris added two more runs for SAU who took advantage of Lady Buff fielding errors to leadoff both the first and second innings.
 
After Goad's electric blast left the yard heading for downtown Denver, SAU tacked two more runs in the sixth inning to cushion a lead that would be cut into in the following half inning. Dow delivered with a two-run single up the middle to push the Lady Mulerider advantage to 7-1, before WTAM added three in the bottom half.
 
Jenkins worked quickly in the seventh as she induced a foul out to Harris at first, before working around a one-out walk to retire the next two batters 1-3 and L3 respectively to send the Lady Muleriders into Thursday's nightcap; a rematch of Tuesday's round one game with North Alabama.
 
No. 3 North Alabama advanced with a 9-0 win over Southern Arkansas on Tuesday and a 5-1 win over (RV) Adelphi on Wednesday. A Lady Mulerider win forces an "if-necessary" game in the bottom bracket with the winner advancing to the best-of-three National Championship series.
 
Live stats and live video links are available here: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/softball/d2. A live radio link is available here: http://www.magnoliaradio.com/.  
 
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 continuing coverage of Southern Arkansas' World Series run.