BENTONVILLE, ARK. – The East Central University softball team put themselves in a good spot in the bracket of the 2015 Great American Conference Championship tournament, picking up two wins in the opening day.  The Tigers (30-13) first picked up a 2-1 win over Arkansas-Monticello and then claimed a 9-8 victory over arch rival Southeastern Oklahoma State.

The wins kept ECU in the winner bracket and allows them to reset in the morning, as they will face the winner of Henderson State and Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m., Friday, May 1.

Junior Marissa Shaffer earned wins in both games, throwing 13.2 innings, allowing 12 hits and nine runs and striking out five.  Junior Lacey Paulk threw the final 0.1 innings earning her second save of the season.

Junior Taylor Davis led the team with a .750 batting average, six hits, two runs and an RBI.  Redshirt junior Peyton Watson added a .600 average, with a team-best three RBIs.

Game 1 – ECU 2, UAM 1
The Cotton Blossoms (24-24) were the first to get on the scoreboard, taking a 0-1 lead after the first inning.  The score remained the same for the next three innings before the Tigers got things started in the bottom of the fourth.

Junior Lauren Reeves led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Junior Autumn Suydam added a single to center and after a throwing error the runners were left on second and third.  Senior Samantha McGraw scored the first RBI of the inning with a single to right.  Watson gave ECU a 2-1 advantage with a sacrifice fly to left.

The Tigers then held tough on defense to earn the 2-1 final.

Shaffer, a 2015 All-GAC First Team selection threw a complete game, allowing just three hits, one run and striking out four.

Game 2 – ECU 9, SEOSU 8
The Tigers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, taking a 4-0 lead after the top of the first.  Davis, an All-GAC First Team pick, started the game with a single up the middle.  After the first out, junior Jordynn VanPelt, also an All-GAC First Team selection, hit a shot over the scoreboard in left field for a 2-0 advantage.

Reeves kept things going with a double and was followed on base with a single from Suydam.  McGraw earned the next RBI with a double to left field and Watson sent the last run home with a single up the middle.

The Savage Storm (31-22) cut into the lead in the bottom of the second, scoring two.

ECU added a run in the top of the third for a 5-2 lead.  McGraw earned a one-out single to left and sophomore Carlee Henderson went into run.  She was sent to second with the next out and then scored when senior Lacey Williams-Wenholm singled to left.

Davis added a run in the fourth with a solo home run to left field to put the Tigers up 6-2.

ECU added three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-2 lead.  After the first out, Suydam hit a stand-up triple to right center.  McGraw was added to the base path when she was hit by a pitch.  The first run scored on a single by Watson and the runners were then advanced to second and third with a wild pitch.

After the second out, senior Kayci Snider added two RBIs with a single up the middle.

SEOSU was able to get six runs across the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers held on for the 9-8 victory.