MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The 21^st ranked Muleriders secured wins number 11 and 12 as they earned their first Great American Conference series clinching with brooms after sweeping the East Central Tigers and defeating the group from Ada, Oklahoma for the 19^th consecutive time.
 
Speaking of 19, Southern Arkansas was able to keep the Tigers scoreless through 19 innings before ECU earned their first runs in the sixth inning of the final game of the series. Overall, team 26 score 15 runs against the Tigers after having defeated East Central 3-0 twice and 9-4 in game three.
 
Game Two
Game two of the series, game one of the day, saw Brinson Rogers start in the circle for her inaugural outing on Dawson Field. Rogers claimed her fourth triumph of the 2024 season, now 4-3, and has seen all come via shutout while having also played her fourth complete game. The junior faced 26 batters and saw half of them walk back to the dugout after having struck out 13 Tigers in her first game started in Magnolia. The native of Statesboro, Georgia allowed just four hits and accounted for one hit by pitch.
 
Batters for the Muleriders in game two matched up quite similarly to game one as Southern Arkansas recorded three runs on seven hits with 23 total at-bats as just two batters walked with ECU pitcher Lauren HerrNeckar in the circle for a complete game.
 
Kamryn Moctezuma had herself a weekend, more specifically on Saturday, as she recorded seven at-bats, six hits, three RBIs, five putouts, two runs, and a batting average of .857. For the entire series, Moctezuma recorded seven hits on nine at-bats and calculated a batting average of .778.
 
In game two of the series, Southern Arkansas looked to put the hurt on the Tigers in the first after Rogers saw three batters come up and back down which was then followed by two early singles from Regan Dillon and Moctezuma in which saw Dillon score the first run of the bout off of a Gracie King fly out with one out. The Muleriders saw three batters get on base, but ended the first with two left on base.
 
Neither group was able to add onto the score till the Muleriders broke the silence in the bottom of the fourth. To make things exciting, Southern Arkansas saw two batters out via popped and struck out. Life was breathed into team 26 as Mackensie Baldwin, in her second start, singled down the right field line. Ariana Rolle stepped to plate singled to third base to advance Baldwin to second and put herself on base. Back to the top of the lineup, Dillon was then hit by a pitch to advance both the runners and put the pressure on HerrNeckar. Who else but Moctezuma to single up the middle and move to second off a throwing error which also granted Baldwin and Rolle to roll home for two more runs.
 
Neither group was able to put a runner on base in the fifth, but in the top of the sixth, the pressure was put on the Muleriders as Rogers accounted for her one HBP following a line out. The following Tiger, Caton Muncy, then singled down the right field line to advance the previous batter, Megan Lasko, to third. After a quick chat with Coach Jason Anderson, Rogers locked in and took out the next two batters following a foul out and strike out.
 
The Tigers were not allowed to create anymore tension for the remainder of game two as Southern Arkansas took care of East Central 3-0.
 
Game Three
Three pitchers saw the circle for the Muleriders as Sydney Ward started the final game of the series and earned herself her fifth win of the campaign, now 5-1. Corie Byrd relieved Ward of her duties in the sixth and was in for 0.2 innings before Coach Anderson sent in senior Morgan McAlexander to finish off the Tigers in game three.
 
Ward allowed three hits, one earned run, and three walks while also recording six strikeouts against 20 total batters. Byrd surrendered a pair of earned runs on two hits and two walks against six batters. McAlexander allowed just one earned run on a couple of hits with just one walk and two strikeouts. The senior out of New Boston, Texas (McAlexander) shook her nerves off following a hit by pitch in the top of the sixth and a wild pitch with one out in the top of the seventh. The Bowie County native forced a pop out just after the WP and struck out the final batter for ECU to secure SAU the victory.
 
The final outing in the GAC opening series remained a defensive struggle for four and a half innings until in the bottom of the fifth arrived and the Muleriders made sure there was no more silence. Southern Arkansas was responsible for a seven-run inning with Ava Dunn, Rolle, Demi Lindsey, Moctezuma, Nillen, Jenna Huey, and Cassidy Lear all scoring on eight hits.
 
The trend almost remained in the top of the sixth as East Central was able to score their first runs of the series after having accounted for three runs. The Muleriders got out of the jam after McAlexander hushed the rally by the Tigers with the bases loaded.
 
SAU added on a couple insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning as Savannah Clausen and Moctezuma scored the pair off of a King single and wild throw from East Central.
 
The Tigers were able to tack on one more run in the top half of the seventh and began to feel a rally coming on from the chirpy dugout, but were soon silenced by McAlexander's game-clinching pitching.
 
On Deck
The Muleriders are now 12-4 overall and begin conference play 3-0 as they will return to Dawson Field for their second league series of the season with Harding coming into town next weekend (March 1-2). For more on Mulerider Softball, check out www.MuleriderAthletics.com