SHAWNEE, Okla. – Ninth-ranked Mulerider Softball traveled to central Oklahoma for the regular season finale as Southern Arkansas took on the reigning GAC Regular Season Champions in Oklahoma Baptist for a matchup that included the top two seeds in the Great American Conference Championship Tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas (May 1-3).
 
Game One (L, 4-3)
Southern Arkansas was met with its third conference loss after dropping the contest 4-3 in an outing that saw early scoring for the Bison last till the end, with the Muleriders not beingAC able to plate runs until the top of the fifth.
 
OBU got the scoring going first in the contest as the group scored on a single in the bottom of the second inning to go up 1-0. In the bottom of the third, Oklahoma Baptist added onto its lead with a three-run homer for the 4-0 advantage and early momentum.
 
The Muleriders were not unfamiliar with pulling off a late-game comeback as the group found life in the top of the fifth after Regan Dillon woke up the SAU bats with a two-run dinger over the right center field wall to cut the deficit in half, 4-2. With nothing added by the Bison, the Blue and Gold were not out yet as the group tacked on another run off a Jenna Huey single to left field that scored Kelsie Adams.
 
Adams' run ended up being the Muleriders' final of the game as the unit left a base runner on in the top of the seventh and fell 4-3 for just their third league loss this year.
 
Brinson Rogers earned complete game number 23 in the process as the senior dealt seven strikeouts in the series opener, but would also allow five walks and four runs in the contest before locking down the Bison for the fourth through the sixth innings.
 
Game Two (L, 6-5/11)
Once again, the Muleriders and Bison saw it come down to the very end as the two needed more than just seven innings to decide a winner, with the groups going to 11 innings before deciding a winner.
 
Southern Arkansas came out on top first in this contest with a lead-off home run by Regan Dillon in the top of the first but would see the next three out of four batters go down.
 
The Bison responded in kind with a double followed by a home run two outs later for a 2-1 OBU lead.
 
After a silent second inning, the Blue and Gold added three runs to the board with all three runs being unearned for the 4-2 advantage.
 
Once again, Oklahoma Baptist countered Southern Arkansas with runs of its own with a two-run homer to tie the game at two apiece.
 
SAU added another run to their total in the top of the fourth with an unearned run by Cassidy Lear for the 5-4 lead.
 
After a lead-off single in the bottom of the fourth, Rogers came in to relieve Corie Byrd, who was in to relieve Kassie Rhodes. Rogers held the group scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, in which the Bison scored with bases loaded on a passed ball for an unearned run, for a 5-5 score.
 
The two remained scoreless and in a pitchers' duel for the next 4.5 frames until the bottom of the eleventh, when Lena Walter was sent in for the relief of Rogers. The Bison took advantage of the situation quickly as the group recorded a walk-off home run to sweep the day and give the Muleriders their first series loss of the season.
 
Even with the loss, Brinson Rogers accomplished a feat that no Mulerider Softball pitcher has done in over two decades, as the native of Statesboro, Georgia broke Krystal Poulin's 21-year-old single-season strikeout record of 267 Ks with 269 strikeouts in today's doubleheader.
 
Next Up
Southern Arkansas is set to play the Bison in the series and regular season finale tomorrow at 11:00 AM.