BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Top seed Southern Arkansas defeated Oklahoma Baptist, 4-1, on Saturday in the Great American Conference Tournament Championship game.
OBU, which was in its first-ever tourney final, moved its record to 36-17 while SAU improved to 42-8. The Muleriders clinched the GAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament with the result. As for the Bison, they will wait and see if they gain an at-large bid on Monday, May 5.
SAU jumped out early, plating a run in the first on a two-out RBI triple by Kelsie Adams. The Muleriders added two more in the second, highlighted by a run-scoring triple from Payton Owens and an RBI single from Reagan Dillon, the tournament MVP. An RBI double by Jenna Huey in the third extended the lead to 4–0.
That proved to be enough for GAC Pitcher of the Year Brinson Rogers, who improved to 29–4 on the year with a dominant performance. The right-hander tossed a complete game, allowing just three hits and one unearned run while striking out five.
Oklahoma Baptist struggled to solve Rogers' mix until the seventh, when
Greenlee Wells doubled and later scored on an
Ally Ryan sacrifice fly for the Bison's lone run. In the circle,
Jorja Barrett relieved
Morgan Max in the fifth and closed the game by allowing just three hits while striking out three SAU batters.
By game's end, Ryan,
Jaycee Shaffer and Wells were named to the All-Tournament Team.
