ADA, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas University Softball team made quick work out of the East Central Tigers in Ada today, beating the Oklahoma team 9-1 in game one of the double header and finishing off the day with a 7-3 victory. The Muleriders will wrap up the conference series tomorrow with a 12 p.m. first pitch at Tiger Field. Live coverage links will be available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Game one saw the Muleriders run rule the Tigers in five innings, dismissing ECU 9-1 after a dominant second inning that saw five runs. Game two saw much less from either offenses, and rather featured a pitcher's duel between graduate student Baylie Thornhill and ECU's Taryn O'Brien. Electric offensive output came later in the sixth inning when SAU scored six runs.
GAME ONE
Southern Arkansas Notes
*SAU tied their season-high single-game extra base hits, seeing six of their 11 hits go for extra bases. The team notched two home runs to have homered in 12 of their 15 games this season.
*Four Muleriders recorded multi-hit days- Alyssa Miller (2-4), Haley Nillen (2-2), Courtney Storey (2-2), and Kamryn Moctezuma (2-3).
*Both King and Nillen homered in game one, forcing across three runs each in the process. Nillen's first inning HR occurred with just a single out and scored Miller, who had singled in the team's first at bat, and Ariana Rolle who had drawn a walk. King hit her bomb in the second inning to score Miller and Rolle once again. King recorded her fifth HR this season to stand as the program's leader, while Nillen notched her third. Of Nillen's four hits this year, three have gone yard.
*Miller recorded hits in consecutive at bats to find herself in the right place at the right time for the two Mulerider home runs. The two-time GAC player of the week recorded her seventh multi-hit game and recorded just her fourth strikeout of the year.
*Moctezuma recorded her first multi-hit outing as a Mulerider and saw her 12th RBI. The junior Transfer batted in SAU's final run of the matchup, doubling to center in the third to score Courtney Storey.
*Sydney Ward continued her pitching domination, tossing 5.0 innings that saw just a single hit and run. The sophomore faced 21 batters and struck out five. Ward hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in her nine appearances and has given up one or fewer earned runs in five. The Mulerider faced ten less batters than the EU pitching staff.
East Central Notes
*Taia Harris took over pitching duties for the Tigers in the second inning after the Muleriders' second three-run bomb. She wrapped up the inning with one hit and walk before retiring the last two batters. She proceeded to pitch the remainder of the game for the Tigers, going 3.2 innings in relief of Taylor Spence. Her outing saw one run on six hits and three strikeouts between the 19 batters she faced. Spence earned her fifth loss of the season and tossed the fewest innings (1.1) of her five starts.
*The Tigers solo run came in the second when Miranda Garza doubles to score Reid who had reached on a walk and had stolen second to put herself in scoring position.
GAME TWO
Southern Arkansas Notes
*Miller started the second game the same way she'd began the first-with a single in SAU's first plate appearance. King followed in the three spot with a single to mark the duo's first of three hits they would see through 7 innings. Miller finished 3-5 with one RBI and two runs while King went 3-4 with 3 RBI. Five additional Muleriders recorded a hit in the matchup.
*Baylie Thornhill allowed a hit to the first ECU batter of the second game, but retired the next three batters, striking out two. She allowed eight hits, three runs and just a single walk through 6.0 innings, her longest outing of the season. Thornhill additionally struck out a season-high six batters.
*Neither team saw a run until the fifth inning when Rolle singled to bring in Miller who had reached base through a double to left field. Hamilton singled in the sixth to gain SAU their first base runner of many to come. Ava Dunn took over pinch running responsibilities for Hamilton before Story reached on an error, advancing Dunn into scoring position. Moctezuma began the five-run sixth inning rally, singling to score Ava Dunn and earn the Muleriders their second run of the game. Lear walked to load the bases for Miller who singled to score the second run of the inning. King notched her third hit of the day, alongside Miller, tripling to clear the bases and score three more runs. Nillen continued the hot Mulerider offense with a single to right to score King.
*ECU was held scoreless through six innings before they scored 3 runs off Thornhill in the seventh. Kate Faber came in to snag all three outs of the inning and hold SAU with a four-point win over the Tigers.
East Central Notes
*R. Hadley was the lone Tiger to record multiple hits, contributing three of the eight herself.
*Taryn O'Brien and Lauren HerrNecka combined pitching efforts in the Mulerider win. O'Brien tossed 5.2 innings that saw 11 hits, one walk and three strikeouts. HerrNecka took care of the final 1.1 innings, allowing zero hits and striking out one while walking two.
