SNU Eliminates ATU From GAC Tournament

Southern Nazarene University struck for five runs in the top of the 10th inning and went on to a 6-1 softball victory over Arkansas Tech University in an elimination game at the Great American Conference Tournament on Friday.

The Golden Suns (37-22) tied the score at 1-1 on a Cara Tolar sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning.

SNU starting pitcher Katelynn Brown and ATU relief pitcher Jalissa Gum kept the score tied well into extra innings. Neither side broke through until Brown gave the Crimson Storm a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th on a RBI single up the middle.

Southern Nazarene tacked on four insurance runs in the frame, and Brown retired the side in the bottom of the 10th to end the Golden Suns’ stay in Bentonville.

Brown (21-16) limited Arkansas Tech to one run on eight hits in 10 innings.

Gum (21-12) was charged with five runs on six hits in eight and one-third innings of relief.

The Golden Suns will learn on Monday, May 8, if they will receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. If they do not, their 2017 season will come to an end.