RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Bulldogs' road woes continue as they dropped the final two games of a Great American Conference series on the road against Arkansas Tech. SWOSU suffered a 10-2 run-rule defeat in the first game before being shut out in the second game 5-0 as the Golden Suns completed the series sweep.
Game 1: ATU 10, SWOSU 2 (5 Inn.)Box Score SWOSU got on the board first on Saturday afternoon courtesy of an RBI single by
Tori Hawk. Hawk's hit to third base was enough to bring in
Samantha Perry for the 1-0 lead in the top of the second. The Bulldogs increased their lead in the top of the third when
Ashley Dunigan reached on a fielder's choice. Though
Ashley Jones was thrown out at second base on the play, it was enough to bring in
Adrienne Martinez.
The bottom of the third, however, was disastrous for the Bulldogs like it has been for much of the season. SWOSU gave up ten runs in the half-inning to surrender their lead. Southwestern was shutout in the next two innings, giving the Golden Suns the victory via mercy rule.
Laura Wilson was saddled with her second loss of the weekend as she saw two innings of action. The Bulldogs collected six hits, with Hawk leading the way by going 2-3 with an RBI. SWOSU left six runners stranded in the loss.
Game 2: ATU 5, SWOSU 0Box Score The Golden Suns struck quickly in the second game of the afternoon, plating two runs in the bottom of the first. SWOSU did well to keep Arkansas Tech off the board through the next four innings as
Rileigh Ricken fanned two and forced eight groundouts. However, SWOSU was unable to generate much offense, notching just three hits. ATU tacked on an additional three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide the final scoreline.
Ricken went the distance, but took her second loss of the road trip. Both Martinez and Ricken went 1-2 at the plate, but SWOSU left another six runners on base.
SWOSU falls to 1-15 in conference play and will be riding a four-game losing streak entering the GAC series next Friday, April 3 against Harding in Weatherford. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 1 pm.
