MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello softball team recorded a combined total of five hits and one run in a pair of losses to Arkansas Tech in Gulf South Conference action by final scores of 2-0 and 5-1.
 
The losses drop UAM to 37-14 overall and 16-12 in the GSC, while ATU improves to 39-19 overall and 18-8 in the GSC. The Golden Suns clinched their second consecutive GSC West Division Championship with the wins, as UAM needed three wins in the four-game series to win the title.
 
Tech hurler Casey Hammons had her rise-ball working effectively, inducing UAM into a combined total of 12 pop-outs through the course of both games.
 
Hammons (19-6) recorded both wins for Tech on the mound after allowing three hits in the first game in complete-game fashion, followed with a no-hitter in relief in the second game, tossing the final five and two thirds innings with a pair of walks and one strikeout.
 
In the first game, freshman Kayla Jackson (23-7) was charged with the loss after tossing a complete-game, allowing two runs off seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
 
Jackson was also responsible for the limited offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate, including a single to left in the first and a single to center in the sixth. Senior Amy Maris was the only other UAM player to record a hit, going 1-for-3 with a single to center in the seventh.
 
ATU did its damage with one run in each of the top of the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by an RBI single by Tiphani Moon in the sixth.
 
In the second game, junior Kayla Temple produced UAM’s only run of the day with an RBI single to left field, scoring junior Emilie Hobbs, who singled earlier in the game. Those two singles were the only hits for UAM in the game.
 
The Golden Suns jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead after two innings of play, but Moon’s two-run homerun in the top of the seventh inning shifted the momentum and gave ATU its final advantage.
 
Freshman Randa Perry (9-7) took the loss after tossing the first four innings, allowing three runs off six hits with a pair of walks. Jackson threw the final three innings in relief and allowed two runs off two hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
 
The two squads conclude the series with a 1 p.m. double-header on Sunday at Blossoms Field in Monticello. The games will be the last for five UAM seniors, who will be honored with a special ceremony prior to the first game.