EDMOND, Okla. - #16 Southern Arkansas went toe-to-toe with the defending national champions and No. 1 Rogers State in a 3-2 loss, before bouncing back in a major way with a 9-8 road victory over #6 Central Oklahoma on Saturday at the Raising Cane's Softball Festival from UCO's Gerry Pinkston Stadium in Edmond.
The Muleriders (12-1) scored a pair of runs in the home half of the fifth inning on RBI singles by Kamryn Moctezuma and Ariana Rolle to break a scoreless tie and carry a 2-0 lead into the sixth. RSU responded with three runs, including a two-run blast to tie it and an RBI fielder's choice to push the Hillcats out front with a 3-2 lead that would hold.
Mulerider starter Sydney Ward (6-1) worked around a pair of Hillcats on the base paths in the first and second innings and stranded the bases loaded in the third before working quick frames in the fourth and fifth. She finished with four strikeouts to five walks and five hits. Rolle recorded two of SAU's five hits in the loss.
In the second game against the host Central Oklahoma, the Muleriders hurriedly backed the start of Baylie Thornhill who would end up with the save after leaving in the third but reentering in the sixth. Emily Shipman, Courtney Storey and Gracie King powered SAU in win No. 12.
Storey doubled down the left field line in the second inning to plate Mariah Hamilton, King homered to center fielder to push home a pair and Shipman blasted a grand slam in the fifth to respond to a three-run HR by UCO in the third. Moments later, Storey homered to score a triple-hitting Hamilton and build the lead to 9-3 which would be just enough as the host scored a combined five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull to within one before Thornhill reentered to extinguish the threat with the tying run at second.
Maci McJunkins earned the win, the first of her young career, after working around three hits, two walks and a pair of earned runs over 2.1 innings. Thornhill totaled 4.0 innings and Morgan McAlexader worked two thirds of a frame.
The aforementioned trio that powered the Muleriders into the win column all collected two hits each. Hamilton also recorded two hits. Shipman led with four RBI, Storey followed with three and King added two. Five other Muleriders added a base knock. King and Hamilton both score twice.
Southern Arkansas closes out its weekend in OKC with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday against Missouri Southern from Yukon HS. Fans can follow along via Facebook Live; link is available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
