RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Up in Pope County, the 10th-ranked Muleriders (18-2 | 3-1 GAC) took on in-state for Arkansas Tech (10-6 | 3-1 GAC) to resume Great American Conference action. The two Natural State rivals took on one another in their series opener on Friday night, with which Southern Arkansas prevailed with a 6-4 victory and gained the the advantage in the series. Team 28's win in Russellville marks the Muleriders' first victory over the Golden Suns at their home turf since the 2022 campaign (3/4/2022). 

At Arkansas Tech (W, 6-4)

Getting the start, and the finish, in the game was Emma Duncan. The grad student went on to pitch her sixth complete game of the season, as Duncan allowed just three hits and struck out nine batters to move on to 8-0 in the campaign. 

Sophia Luetticke and America Rubio had themselves each a solid outing at the plate, as Luetticke went on to record a 4-for-4 night with two runs scored and two batted in. For Rubio, the Texan batted 2-for-4 with both of her hits going for extra bases, tallying a double and a triple. Regan Dillon went 2-for-3 batting, as the senior singled to left field to score the go-ahead runs in the top of the sixth for the Muleriders. 

Through two innings, both the SAU and ATU defenses stood strong, with only a little give, as the groups were knotted up at 0-0 after the end of the second. The top of the third saw that score change, which started with Maddie Leal reaching first on a fielding error by the left fielder and helped the Houston native advance to second. For the next at-bat, Luetticke got her first RBI of the night with a single up the middle to score Leal from second for the 1-0 lead to head into the bottom frame. 

After walking the first batter and striking out the second, Miya Curry, who was walked, stole second and then scored as Anna Winkfield singled up the middle to tie the game at 1-1. 

After Rubio tripled in the top of the fourth, the next three batters went down for SAU to lead to the bottom of the fourth. The Golden Suns managed to take the lead in the bottom frame, which started with a hit batter by a pitch. Caroline Wilhelm then recorded a sac bunt to advance Destiney Madewell, the hit batter, to second base. Up next was Riley Drake who homered to deep left field for a two-run homer to go up 3-1 heading to the fifth. 

Southern Arkansas began its response to the home run in the top of the fifth, as Luetticke doubled down the left field line with one out to start. Luetticke was then advanced to third on a Dillon single. From third, Luetticke scored on a Paris Endris single through the left field, for the Muleriders to cut the deficit to one at 3-2. 

SAU held up the the Suns in the bottom of the fifth, as the Blue and Gold went on to take the lead in the top of the sixth, which started up with a Peyton Raley one-out double to shallow left field. With two outs and a runner on second, Leal drew a walk and was then batted to third with a Luetticke single to right field, which also scored Raley from second, 3-3. After a previous pinch running substitution with Regan Dillon, the senior pinch hit for AvaMarie Perry. The senior went on to single to left field to score both Leal and Luetticke for the 5-3 advantage. 

With momentum shifted, the Muleriders sought to hold on to that momentum in the bottom of the sixth, and nearly did. The group almost made it to the seventh without surrendering another run, as Aubree Jones reached first on a fielding error in right field, and had Miya Curry, who walked on the previous at-bat, score from first on the error, 5-4. SAU managed to get out of the inning still with the lead after Winkfield flew out to left center. 

Kelsie Adams started up the top half of the seventh with a lead-off walk, and was advanced to second by a Payton Owens one-out single. After a couple of substitutions, Perry singled down the left field line to score Adams for a two-run lead, which ended up being the final difference in the game at 6-4. 

Up Next:

The league series is still up for grabs, as the Muleriders and the Golden Suns will duke it out tomorrow in the series doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM.