BETHANY, OKLA. – The East Central University softball team had a strong day, taking both games from Southern Nazarene in the final day of the Great American Conference series.

The Tigers (12-10, 9-5 GAC) were led by junior Jordynn VanPelt, who hit .500 on two hits, three runs and six RBIs.  Senior Kaile Marcum added a .429 average, on three hits and two runs.

Senior Brianna Nunley earned the win in game one, throwing a complete game shutout, with three strikeouts.  Junior Marissa Shaffer earned the win in the second game, allowing nine hits, five runs and striking out five.
ECU will now get ready for a Tuesday, March 24 double-header against Southeastern Oklahoma State at Tiger Field starting at 1 p.m.

Game 1 – ECU 3, SNU 0
The Tigers got started early, getting a run across the plate in the first inning.  Junior Autumn Suydam started the inning with a walk and then stole second.  Senior Kaile Marcum sent her to third with a sacrifice bunt and she scored when junior Jordynn VanPelt hit a sacrifice fly deep to center field.

ECU added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-0 advantage.  Marcum hit a single up the middle and was sent home when VanPelt hit a ball deep to left center that was dropped and put her on third.  She was sent home on a double by sophomore Sydney Dow to left center.

The Tigers held strong on defense through the final inning and took a 3-0 win in game one, with senior Brianna Nunley throwing her second complete-game shutout of the season.  Nunley allowed three hits and struck out three batters.

Game 2 – ECU 12, SNU 5
The Crimson Storm (10-15, 6-9 GAC) were the first to get on the scoreboard, plating one in the top of the first.

The Tigers waited until the second inning to counter the run, scoring five.  After two outs, senior Kayci Snider drew a walk and was sent home on a triple to center field by junior Peyton Watson.  Watson was then able to score on a single to center by Suydam.  VanPelt then sent three runs across the plate with a home run to right field for the 5-1 lead.

Senior Lacey Williams-Wenholm kept the runs coming with a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the third.  Senior Samantha McGraw and Snider singled and Watson then drew a walk to load the bases.  Suydam then reached on an error to score one run, VanPelt singled to left to score two and Dow singled up the middle for two more runs to put ECU up 11-1.

SNU tried to get things going in the fourth, scoring two runs for an 11-3 score and then the Crimson Storm added a run in the fifth to make it 11-4.

The Crimson Storm kept fighting and added a run in the sixth to make it 11-5.

The Tigers responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, on a two-out single from Snider and a double from Watson for a 12-5 score.