MONTICELLO, ARK. – The East Central University softball team finished up the 2017 regular-season by splitting the final two games against Arkansas-Monticello.  The Tigers first fell 0-2 and then claimed a 1-0 victory in eight innings.

The Tigers (31-24, 22-21 GAC) were led by redshirt sophomore Aundrea Hamric and senior Haley Hyatt, who each hit .333 for the day.  Hamric garnered two hits, while Hyatt tallied one and a sacrifice.
Senior Karlie Milburn picked up the win in the circle, throwing the last 1.2 innings of game two, allowing no hits or runs and striking out one.

ECU will now get ready for the 2017 Great American Conference Championship Tournament, May 4-6 in Bentonville, Ark.  The Tigers are the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Arkansas-Monticello in the opening round.

ECU 1, UAM 0 (8)
The teams battled through a scoreless regulation second game, with the Tigers getting three base runners and the Cotton Blossoms (33-21, 26-16 GAC) 11 without a run being scored.

ECU did not wait long into the extra inning time to get on the scoreboard, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth.  Freshman Jaclyn Willis started the inning by reaching due to an error and was sent to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hyatt.

The runner advanced to third on a double to right center by sophomore Breecia Crawford.  Junior Alissa Taylor kept the inning alive by drawing a walk before junior Claresha Clemons earned the game-winning RBI with a ground out to second base.

The Tigers then allowed just one base runner in the bottom of the inning to claim the 1-0 victory.

UAM 2, ECU 0
UAM started the scoring in the second inning, earning two runs on two hits.

The Tigers got runners on base in all but the fourth and seventh innings, but were unable to get a run across the plate, falling 0-2.