Arkansas Tech University clinched the No. 2 seed in the Great American Conference Tournament by winning 3-of-4 softball games against Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla., on Friday and Saturday.
The Golden Suns (39-17 overall, 30-14 GAC) will face Ouachita Baptist University in a first-round GAC Tournament game in Bentonville on Wednesday, May 2. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Live coverage will be available at www.arkansastechsports.com.
Game One: Tech 6, SWOSU 1
Four of Arkansas Tech’s eight hits went for extra bases in a 6-1 victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Friday.
Paty Loredo went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs batted in and Ashton Sangster was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for the Golden Suns.
Tech’s Paige Mendoza hit a solo home run and Janie Knowles added an RBI double.
Megan Goodnight (14-4) pitched the first six innings for the Suns. She allowed one run on seven hits and struck out four.
Game Two: Tech 3, SWOSU 2
Arkansas Tech struck for three runs in the top of the second inning and held on from there for a 3-2 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader.
Knowles delivered an RBI double, Sydnie Henson smacked an RBI triple and SWOSU committed an error that allowed Henson to score and give the Suns a 3-1 lead midway through the second inning.
Tech pitchers Kristen Dempsey and Bailey Shaffer ensured that three runs would be enough.
Dempsey (11-5) limited the Bulldogs to two runs, one of which was earned, on six hits over six and two-thirds innings. She registered a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Shaffer got the final out for her second save of 2018.
Game Three: Tech 12, SWOSU 3
A Makenzie Addis grand slam highlighted Arkansas Tech’s 14-hit outburst and subsequent 12-3 victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Addis’ blast over the left field fence gave the Golden Suns a 6-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Knowles hit a two-run home run for Tech. Loredo and Sarah Coronado also notched two RBIs for the Suns.
Cara Tolar (4-4) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in the circle.
Game Four: SWOSU 2, Tech 1
Miranda Grover’s complete-game pitching performance helped Southwestern Oklahoma State salvage the series finale against Arkansas Tech 2-1 on Saturday.
Grover (6-8) held the Golden Suns to one run on five hits over seven innings.
Tech’s Goodnight broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning.
SWOSU answered in the last of the sixth with an RBI fielder’s choice by Allyson Gafford and a go-ahead RBI single by Samantha Householder.
Grover pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning to give the Bulldogs the victory.
