Bentonville, Ark. – The SAU Softball team closed out their non-conference schedule at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in different fashion than in day one in Bentonville.
Scoring 42 runs in day one, the Muleriders "only" scored 13; however, it was 13 more than they allowed to their opponents on the day, Northwest Missouri and Maryville.
The Muleriders jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first inning with a
Faith Otts single preceding a
Chelsea Fagan homerun, her third of the season.
The Muleriders added to their lead in the next inning, with singles by
Christina Hill and
Jaxynn Dyson sandwiching an
Alese Casper walk to load the bases.
Junior left fielder
Maeson Grace then proceeded to clear the bases with her first career grand slam. This is her second homerun in as many days, and entered this weekend with only one homerun to her name collegiately.
Grace would drive in a run in the next inning as well on a fielder's choice.
A Hill sacrifice fly an inning later would push the final tally to eight runs.
Sydney Wader picked up her second five-inning shutout of the weekend, only allowing three hits while striking out six.
The Mulerider offense took a couple of innings to get going in game two against Maryville, not hitting pay dirt until the third inning.
A Grace walk and Suesue single put two runners on, with Grace scoring on a Favela single. A Fagan fielder's choice would score the catcher to double the lead.
Fagan herself would score on a
Sarah Evans single to make it 3-0.
The Muleriders would not strike again until the sixth inning. A Hill single and a Casper sacrifice saw Dyson single in Hill from second base, with the freshman second baseman scoring later in the inning on one of four Maryville errors in the game.
Victoria Taylor threw a complete-game shutout, only allowing two hits and striking out four. With strikeouts to the first two batters of the game, the senior became the first pitcher in SAU history to achieve 600 career strikeouts and only the fifth in conference history to do so.
The Muleriders close their non-conference schedule with a 10-2 record. They open conference play next weekend when they host Harding in a four-game set.
