MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Another weekend full of Great American Conference action on Dawson Field inside the Dr. Margaret Downing Softball Complex has come to an end, as the Muleriders opened up the broom closet for another league sweep, taking all three games against the East Central Tigers.
 
With Friday night's results, Southern Arkansas is one of four teams in the GAC to clinch a trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, for the 2026 Great American Conference Championship Tournament, which will be taking place on May 7-9. Also, with other results around the GAC, the Muleriders are now tied for first with Oklahoma Baptist at 20-4 in league play. While the two are also tied with Arkansas Tech, the Muleriders would have a tiebreaker against the Golden Suns due to the series sweep earlier this season.
 
Game Two | W, 7-4
Getting her 16^th start out of her 19 appearances was Kassie Rhodes. The senior pitcher went 4.1 innings against ECU, holding the group scoreless until the Tigers spotted a four-run fifth inning, forcing a pitching change for the Muleriders. Coming in for the relief, and making her ninth appearance of the season, was Corie Byrd. The senior from Sweeny, Texas held the Tigers scoreless for her 2.2 innings of work, allowing just two hits. Rhodes ended up being credited with the win, while Byrd tallied her first save of the campaign.
 
The Muleriders came out looking as dominant as the night before after the group went up 6-0 after three innings, scoring two runs in each of the first three innings. That four-run top of the fifth changed the tone of the outing, as the Tigers had built momentum until Byrd came in to shutdown their revolt. The Blue and Gold went on to add on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth for the final result.
 
Scoring the runs for the Muleriders in game two were six different members of Team 28. The lone Mulerider with multiple runs scored was grad student Sophia Luetticke. The Chillicothe, Missouri native went on to scratch across two runs and went 2-for-3 in the game. Also going 2-for-3 in the bout was America Rubio. The senior's two hits were responsible for both of Luetticke's runs, as Ame accounted for a double and a triple in the affair.
 
Game Three | W, 7-0
No comeback was found in the series finale, as Emma Duncan earned her 25^th start of the season, and her 20^th win, now at 20-2. In the finale, the Canadian pitched 6.0 innings with four hits allowed, eight batters struck out, and with no walks. The grad student was relieved going into the seventh, as Libby May came in to close the contest. May, a sophomore out of Atkins, Arkansas, did not allow a single hit and recorded a strikeout in her one inning of work.
 
After a scoreless first, the Muleriders started the scoring in the bottom of the second, with a two-spot in the frame. Southern Arkansas tacked on a few more runs in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead out to 5-0. The final runs in the bout came in the bottom of the fifth with two more, for the eventual final score of 7-0.
 
Maddie Leal had a huge impact in this outing, as the senior went 1-for-2 with a single and a sacrifice fly to bat in three runs for the game. Leal's three RBI were the first three runs scored in the matchup. A Mulerider with an incredible performance in the bout was also Paris Endris, as the Bossier City, Louisiana local went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one run batted in. Endris' lone RBI came by way of a solo bomb over the left field wall. The dinger is her ninth of the season, and the second most on the team.
 
Up Next:
Team 28 prepares for its final trip to Oklahoma, and its final regular-season road trip, as the Blue and Gold will head out to Durant, Oklahoma, for a three-game series with the Savage Storm on April 17-18.