ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita softball team secured a Great American Conference series win after splitting a Monday doubleheader, winning 6-3 and falling 8-9, to the Cotton Blossoms of the University of Arkansas-Monticello.
Game One: Ouachita 6, Monticello 3
Ouachita got off to a slow start in the first game of Monday's doubleheader. After a scoreless first inning, Arkansas-Monticello got on the board in the second inning with two RBI doubles to take a 2-0 lead. It took the Tigers another inning to find their groove on offense.
In the bottom of the third,
Remington Adams put Ouachita on the board with a two-RBI single to second base, scoring
Baylee King and
Emily Reed to tie things up 2-2. The Cotton Blossoms retook the lead in the fourth with one run in the top half of the frame. But the Ouachita offense responded with a new gear in the bottom half of the inning.
Jordyn Merrett crossed home on an error on a ball hit by
Katelyn Provence to tie the game back up at 3-3. A single and another error later, the bases were loaded with two outs.
Marli Huddleston delivered for the Tigers with a bases-clearing double down the left field line, putting Ouachita up by three.
UAM loaded the bases in the sixth inning with just one out, but the Ouachita defense worked its way out of the jam to hold onto the lead. The Tigers forced the Blossoms down in order in the top of the seventh to secure the 6-3 victory, clinching the series win over UAM.
Monday's win was number 16 on the season, surpassing last season's overall win total with 13 games remaining in the regular season.
The Tigers tallied eight hits in the win, with
Marli Huddleston leading the way with a 2-for-3 performance with three RBI. Adams was second on the team in RBI with two.
Karley Burrow got the start and allowed just two earned runs over 5.1 innings of work to earn the win.
Maggi Huddleston pitched the final 1.2 innings and helped get the Tigers out of a bases loaded jam to earn her first save of the season.
Game Two: Monticello 9, Ouachita 8
Arkansas-Monticello started off hot again in the series finale with two runs in the top of the first inning. The Blossoms added two more in the second before Ouachita got things going offensively with two runs in the bottom of the second.
The first run for the Tigers came as
Bella Roseberry scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. King followed with a two-RBI double to center field to score Provence and
Olivia See, making it a one-run game.
It was two scoreless innings for both sides before Adams came up big for the second time with an RBI double to score
Cierra Kemp and tie the game up 4-4. Both sides again went scoreless in the sixth inning before both offenses exploded in the seventh.
UAM plated five runs on four hits and an error in the top half of the seventh to take a 9-4 lead. But the Tigers weren't ready to go quietly. After back-to-back singled from King and Kemp,
Marli Huddleston delivered again, this time with a three-run opposite-field home run to right field that closed the gap to two runs. One batter later,
Jessalyn Ahrens hit the first home run of her collegiate career to cut the deficit to just one run. However, this was the end of the Tiger rally and Ouachita fell by the final score of 9-8.
Ouachita out-hit UAM 11-10 in the loss. Three Tigers, Provence, King, and Huddleston each posted two-hit performances at the plate. Huddleston led with three RBI with King following with two. Provence went 2-for-2 with two walks, increasing her team-leading total to 24.
The Tigers will be looking to complete the regular season sweep of rival Henderson State University this week. The series' game three was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but has been pushed back one day to Wednesday, April 9. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Langston Field. Ouachita won the first two games of the series back in March.
