Nationally 23rd-ranked Arkansas-Monticello broke the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns’ hearts on Monday by sweeping a doubleheader to end Tech’s softball season.
Arkansas-Monticello (48-9 overall, 25-5 Gulf South Conference) defeated Arkansas Tech 5-2 and 4-1 on Monday to complete a four-game series sweep that left the Golden Suns one victory shy of the postseason.
Arkansas Tech finishes its 2010 softball season with an overall record of 22-26 and a league mark of 12-18.
Delta State, which finished 13-17 in GSC play, will go to the GSC Softball Tournament as the No. 4 seed while the Golden Suns will miss the league tournament for the first time since 2007.
UAM, the GSC West Division champion, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one on Monday.
An error, a walk and a hit batsman conspired to give the Golden Suns two runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Arkansas-Monticello’s Randa Perry led off the fourth inning with a single and later scored to give the Blossoms what proved to be their final margin of 5-2.
Kayla Jackson (25-5) was the winning pitcher in game one. She struck out eight.
Emilie Hobbs, Katie Bowman and Becca Tipton had two hits apiece for UAM.
Game two was scoreless until Tipton delivered a two-out RBI double in the top of the third to put the Blossoms ahead 1-0.
Kayla Temple’s RBI single in the fourth made it 2-0 UAM.
Taylor Gates, a senior playing her 188th and final game as a Golden Sun, gave Arkansas Tech hope when she led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a home run to left.
The Cotton Blossoms maintained a 2-1 advantage until the top of the seventh. Consecutive doubles by Hobbs, Bowman and Tipton to begin the inning gave UAM two insurance runs and a 4-1 edge.
Arkansas Tech could not muster a rally in its final at-bat of the season and the Cotton Blossoms drove away with a four-game sweep.
UAM’s Amanda Nordberg (18-2) started and pitched four innings to earn the victory in the circle in the nightcap. Randa Perry came on to get the final nine outs for her third save of the year.
Chelsea Evanoff (11-13) was the losing pitcher in both games on Monday. She allowed just five runs while striking out eight over 12 innings of work during the twin bill.
The loss marked the end of a career for three Golden Suns — Gates, Roxie Palacios and Lyndsey McVay.
Gates and Palacios were both members of two GSC West Division championship teams at Arkansas Tech (2008 and 2009), while McVay was a member of the 2009 GSC West champs.
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