April 6, 2008

Game 1 Stats | Game 2 Stats

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.--Arkansas Tech remained in the hunt for the Gulf South Conference West Division crown as they swept a doubleheader from the Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Suns (29-9, 11-3 GSC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first in the first game, capitalizing on two hits and a walk. A Quinn Culver homer in the second inning made it 3-0, and they plated another run on two hits and a walk in the third.

The Lady Bucs (14-18, 1-13) closed in on ATU in the fourth inning. Kathleen Nelson (Bartlett, Tenn./Bolton HS) led off with a double, and fellow freshman Casey King (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS) tripled her home. Paige Wright (Southaven, Miss./Southaven HS) brought King home with a squeeze bunt, but the Lady Bucs couldn't score again.

In the second game, ATU exploded for four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to blow open what had been a tie game. ATU struck first in the second inning, pushing across two runs on three hits, a walk, and an error.

The Lady Bucs answered with their strongest inning of the day, scoring three runs on five hits. Nikki Dunn (Southaven, Miss./Southaven HS) led the inning off with a single, and the outlook was bleak as the next two batters were retired. But King doubled to provide the first of four straight two-out hits to give the Lady Bucs their only lead of the day. Wright followed with an RBI single. Kallie McFatter (Arlington, Texas/Mansfield Summit HS) doubled, and Sammy Maness (Gallatin, Tenn./Gallatin HS) singled Wright home.

The Golden Suns tied it with a run in the third, and then a four-run fourth gave them a commanding edge. A two-out error allowed the final two runs to score in the fourth, and another two-out error allowed two more unearned runs to score in the three-run fifth inning.

Wright led the Lady Bucs at the plate in game two, going 2-for-3.

The Lady Bucs and Golden Suns meet again for a doubleheader at Bland Field Monday afternoon at 2 p.m.