Bentonville, Ark. – The second-seeded East Central Tigers did what they have done already four time this season – took down the Great American Conference’s other Tigers.
Lacey Paulk pitched a complete game two-hit shutout as ECU beat Ouachita Baptist, 5-0. Paulk allowed only one walk while striking out six OBU batters.
East Central moves on to face the No. 6 seed Henderson State at approximately 6 p.m. tonight. HSU upset Arkansas Tech, 9-5, in an earlier game.
ECU put a run on the board in each of the first two innings to steadily build a lead.
Newly-minted Great American Conference Player of the Year, Shelby Simmons, singled to bring in Lauren Bancroft in the first. Kayci Snider got a double in the second inning, bringing Ali Manship all the way from first base in for the score.
ECU got another run in the fifth. Bancroft tripled to right field, followed by a Simmons triple in the same vicinity, which plated Bancroft.
East Central put two more runs on the board in the sixth.
Paulk picked up the win a day after being selected as the GAC Freshman of the Year.