MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The softball regular season has officially come to a close, as Mulerider Softball took on the Oklahoma Baptist Bion for a series finale at Dawson Field inside the Dr. Margaret Downing Softball Complex.
After dropping their first series with yesterday's doubleheader losses, Southern Arkansas bounced back with a walk-off win in extra innings to fend off the Bison and claim the second seed in the Great American Conference Championship Tournament.
Game Three | W, 4-3 (8 inn.)
Accounting for her second start of the weekend,
Emma Duncan entered the circle and pitched through an inning and a third before the grad student was relieved for
Corie Byrd in the second inning. After coming in for relief, Byrd went ahead and pitched the distance, as Corie went the next 6.2 innings without her giving up a run to Oklahoma Baptist. In doing that, the Sweeny, Texas local earned her first win of the season.
The finale looked as if it were going to have a similar production to the two games on Saturday, as The Bison got on the board early in the top of the second. To start the frame, OBU got on base with a throwing error, but was followed by a lineout to
AvaMarie Perry at third. Following that event, Duncan surrendered back-to-back walks and then back-to-back singles for the Bison to go up 2-0 before Head Coach
Jason Anderson called for Byrd to the circle. After Byrd came in for Duncan, she walked the next batter, which scored the third and final run for Oklahoma Baptist. To cap the inning, the Bison popped out and was caught stealing at home with a heads-up play by
Brooklyn Reed.
From then on, neither squad could get the batting together with runners on base until the Muleriders finally scratched across a couple of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the frame, the group was led off with a
Sophia Luetticke single to third, followed by the Missouri native stealing second. Up next came
America Rubio with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners.
Kelsie Adams then came into pinch run for Rubio and stole second shortly after. Following a groundout, the Blue and Gold had two runs batted in off the barrel of
Paris Endris, 3-2. Heading to the sixth, momentum had finally found favor for the Muleriders.
In the top of the sixth, Byrd had two runners in scoring position, but the senior got out of the jam and produced more energy for SAU. The group used that newly found energy in the bottom frame of the inning, as
AvaMarie Perry led the bottom of the sixth with a single to right field. Leigh Gilbert was then subbed in for Perry to pinch run at first base. Following that sub,
Peyton Raley singled to third base, pushing Gilbert to second. Ensuing after that was
Maddie Leal laying down a sacrifice bunt to advance runners into scoring position. After the second out in the frame, and a visit to the circle, OBU's Jaycee Shaffer threw a wild pitch, and opened up the plate for Gilbert to take home and tie the game going into the seventh.
The seventh ended up not tallying runs anymore, and after the Bison went three-up and three-down at the top of the eighth inning, the Muleriders got back in the saddle. To begin the bottom of the eighth,
Payton Owens reached first on an error by the centerfielder, which helped her advance to second. The Bison seemed to have regained control with back-to-back outs in the field, but then the pressure was put back on OBU with Leal drawing a walk. Then came to the plate
Sophia Luetticke. The grad student on senior weekend singled to right field and delivered the walk-off run for
Payton Owens, who went home from second base, as the Muleriders secured the second seed in the GAC Championship Tournament.
Up Next:
Team 28 now has its undivided attention on the Great American Conference Championship Tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas. The unit will enter the bracket as the two seed, as play will begin on May 7 and conclude on May 9.
