Photo Credits: Destini Nguyen
Pictured: Sophomore Aly White, #33
The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns softball team took on the tenth ranked team, the Southern Arkansas Muleriders, throughout the weekend from Feb. 27 to Feb. 28. ATU lost all three games to the Muleriders, not without putting up a fight.
The first and most competitive game of the series was on Friday, Feb. 27. The starter in the circle for the Golden Suns was sophomore Aly White, a two-way player as she also bats. White managed to only give up two runs and strike out four batters in her first four innings. ATU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with freshman Destiney Madewell and senior Caroline Wilhelm making it home off senior Riley Drake’s hit out of left field. Emily Richarde came in as pitcher in the top of the fifth inning, giving up four runs on five hits and striking out three batters. Though ATU got the lead, the Muleriders were able to respond in the subsequent inning and put out for the win of 6-4.
The Golden Suns played against SAU again in a double header on Saturday, Feb. 28, wrapping up the three-game conference series. Sophomore Ainslee Moore started as pitcher for the Golden Suns before making way for freshman Jenny Shank, with Moore later returning to the mound. The biggest moment of the game for ATU was the grand slam that was hit by freshman Aubree Jones in the bottom of the fourth inning. This put ATU up 4-3. However, this lead did not last long with SAU getting six runs in the top of the sixth. The Golden Suns earned two runs with a homerun from senior Aaliyha Dixon. Freshman Klaire Womack came in to close out the game, pitching for the last inning. With SAU earning two more runs in the top of the seventh, ATU was unable to come back, losing with a final score of 12-6.
The second and last game of the series was not hard fought. SAU scored three runs in each of the first two innings, making the score 6-0 until the fifth inning where they scored again. With SAU scoring another five runs in the final inning, ATU lost the game 12-0.
The Golden Suns return to action March 6-7 against the University of Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms.
