The Cotton Blossoms claimed outright possession of the Gulf South-West with a 6-5 win against Southern Arkansas Saturday, April 28 at Blossom Field.

   The Blossoms fell behind early in an error-laden third inning, but senior third baseman Sarah Reed took matters in her own hands, hitting a game winning two-run home run in the sixth.

   “Going up there I was actually nervous 'cause I wasn’t hitting till then,” Reed said.

   The Lady Muleriders scored first in the third, loading the bases early. Joanna Jones played small ball and reached base off a bunt single. Jones advanced to third on back-to-back singles by Whitney Brannon and Samantha Hoelscher. Cheyenne Savony picked up two RBIs, singling to left center.

   Errors started to pour in for the Blossoms when Kate Brady made a wild throw on a Tisha Thompson bunt, scoring a run. Kirstie Reed hit a sacrifice fly that was capitalized on a throwing error by Jenny Dunn, her first error of the year. Stephanie Beason reached on an error by Reed, but Brady got out of the inning with a ground out with no more damage done.

   In the fourth inning, the Blossoms mounted a comeback, scoring four runs off five hits. Joleah Oxner started the hit parade with a double down the left field line. Kayla Temple singled to short, and Lauren Brooks loaded the bases with a single to right.

   Terri Rodgers singled to right, easily scoring Oxner from third. Rebecca Forse of SAU walked in a run and gave up a single to Reed, scoring another. Rodgers scored on a wild pitch a batter later, but Jenny Dunn hit into a double play to end the rally.

   A defensive battle ensued and confidence started to dwindle until the bottom of the sixth. Down by one with one out and Heckle on first, Reed came up at the perfect time to hit her 13^th home run of the season.

   Brady made short work of the Lady Muleriders in the seventh, giving the Blossoms the first conference title since 2003.

   Heckle and Reed picked up two hits, and Oxner, Temple, Brooks and Rodgers all picked up hits in the win. Brady picked up her 19^th win of the season.