The Ouachita Lady Tiger softball team continued their tear through the Great American Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon, eliminating the University of Arkansas-Monticello and advancing deeper into the double elimination tournament.
The Lady Tigers, whose game was postponed a total of 28 hours due to inclement weather, defeated the Cotton Blossoms by a score of 5-1.
Ouachita plated the first two runs of the game, both of which came in the fourth inning. They capitalized on a pair of errors from the Cotton Blossoms, as Kailey Madden singled and scored Bailey Sanders and Teresa Mursuli popped a sac fly to centerfield later in the inning that scored Madden. Both of the Lady Tigers’ runs in the inning were unearned.
The Cotton Blossoms fired back in the bottom half of the fourth inning with a run of their own, as Kali Piha hit a solo home run over the left field wall and cut the lead to just one run with plenty of time to play.
The Lady Tigers put the game away in the fifth though, scoring a trio of runs. Megan Askew brought home the first run of the inning with a double to center field that scored Suzie Gresham. Bailey Sanders followed Askew’s RBI hit up with one of her own, as she knocked a double to right field that scored Jocelyn Jones and Askew.
Askew finished the game 3-of-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Piha led the way for the Cotton Blossoms with a 2-of-3 day and her solo shot.
Abbi Frakes threw a complete game performance, giving up only one run and recording four strikeouts en route to a win. The Lady Tigers gave UAM pitcher Katie Slaughter her 11th loss of the year, as she was pulled after 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits and five runs, three of which were earned.
The Lady Tigers will continue their run at the GAC Tournament on Saturday evening at 7 p.m., their opponent will be either East Central or Southern Arkansas. If they win tonight at 7 p.m., they will have to play again immediately after for a chance to advance to the GAC Championship game on Sunday.
