CLEVELAND, Miss. – One day after being named Great American Conference Pitcher of the Week, Southern Arkansas University softball's Sydney Ward continued her dominating play as she tossed a complete game no-hitter in game one against Delta State University. The Muleriders took down the Statesmen 10-0 in game one, and 11-2 in game two. SAU was able to out-hit DSU 32-4 in the two-game set. The Muleriders move to 31-13 on the year with six games left on their regular season schedule.

GAME ONE: SAU 10, DSU 0

Ward's game one performance was one to remember, as the junior college transfer retired 19-of-21 batters while allowing no hits to pick up her team leading 15^th win of the year. The Natural State Native struck out eight batters and only allowed three base runners, two of which reached in the first inning, with the third reaching in the sixth. Ward did not allow a base runner in the second, third, fourth or fifth innings. She is the first Mulerider to throw a no-hitter since Elisa Favela tossed three during the 2019 season.

SAU's bats matched Ward's dominance performance in the circle, as the Muleriders exploded for 17 hits in the game. The Muleriders jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Tiare Lee and Jade Miller led the game off with back-to-back home runs.

The Muleriders were able to push one more run across in the second inning as Alese Casper was able to come around on a throwing error by the third baseman. J. Miller hit her second home run of the game in the top of the fourth inning to push SAU's lead to 4-0, followed by a Madison Miller solo shot to right field to make it 5-0.

The top of the sixth inning SAU the Muleriders explode for six hits and five runs. M. Miller led the inning off with a double to right field, followed by a Casper double to center field to put two on for Gracie King. King took advantage and knocked in M. Miller on a single to left field. Taylor Murphy got in on the big inning as she hit a sac fly to score Casper, followed by a Mariah Hamilton single that scored king. Alyssa Miller joined to the other two Miller's with an extra base hit of her own as she doubled down the right field line to score King. Jade Miller picked up her third hit of the game on a single that scored Hamilton to give SAU their 10^th run of the game.

J. Miller led SAU with three hits, four RBI, two runs and two home runs. Lee, Casper, and King also all had three hits, while M. Miller and Hamilton collected two hits apiece.

GAME TWO: SAU 11, DSU 2

SAU's bats stayed hot in game two as the Muleriders reeled off 15 more hits to outhit the DSU 15-4 in the 11-2 victory. The Muleriders blasted two more home runs in the game with King and Hamilton hitting the long ball this time around.

The Muleriders put up six runs in the top of the first inning. Lee led the game off with a walk, followed by a J. Miller bunt single. Jaxynn Dyson hit a double into left field to score both J. Miller and Lee to put SAU on top 2-0. M. Miller got on base with a walk, followed by a Casper single to put three runners on. Murphy reached on a fielder's choice to score Dyson to make it 3-0. Hamilton then blasted a three-run home run to make it 6-0 SAU.

The Muleriders put up three more runs in the third inning with a King home run, and a J. Miller two run single that scored A. Miller and Murphy. SAU posted one more run in the top of the fifth inning as Murphy single to left field to score Casper, followed by one more run in the fifth inning that came off of the Dyson that plated Lee.

Lee SAU with three hits in the contest. J. Miller, Dyson, and Murphy all finished with two hits and two RBI apiece. Hamilton led the squad with three RBI.

Kiana Pogroszewski picked up her 12^th win of the season as she got the start in the circle. KP went 4.0 innings and struck out four batters, while allowing three hits and two runs (one earned). Baylie Thornhill pitched one inning in relief and struck out three batters, while allowing just one hit.

The Muleriders will hit the road to the Sooner State this weekend for a three game GAC set with Southern Nazarene University. The two will open up with a double-header on Friday afternoon and single game on Saturday.