RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.  – The 23^rd-ranked University of Arkansas at Monticello softball team tied the school record for wins in a single season with 10-4 and 8-0 victories over Arkansas Tech on Sunday in the first two games of a four-game Gulf South Conference series.

The Cotton Blossoms (46-9, 23-5 GSC) and Golden Suns (22-24, 12-16 GSC) will conclude the series on Monday with a double-header beginning at noon. If ATU wins the first game, the second game will not be played as the Golden Suns need only one win to clinch a berth into next weekend’s GSC Championship Tournament.

With the double-header sweep, UAM won its 46^th game of the year, tying the 2007 win total. UAM finished that season 46-20 overall.

Also on Sunday, senior catcher Becca Tipton became the all-time leader at UAM with 65 career doubles and also tied the single-season record of 21 doubles after going 2-for-4 in the second game with a pair of double-baggers.

In the first game, the Cotton Blossoms jumped on the scoreboard early with three runs in the top of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run homerun by sophomore starting pitcher Kayla Jackson, which was what turned out to be the first of three homeruns hit by the Hallsville, Texas native in the double-header. Junior Sarah Hayslip started the first-inning rally with an RBI single in the previous at bat.

The two squads went scoreless over the next two innings, before UAM exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth, highlighted by an RBI single from senior Emilie Hobbs and an RBI single from Tipton.

The Golden Suns answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth, while UAM took an 8-2 lead in the fifth on an RBI single by sophomore Meagan Wilson, and extended the lead to 10-2 in the sixth on a two-run homerun by Tipton in the sixth.

ATU scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to force the game to last the full seven innings.

Jackson (24-5) went the distance for the Cotton Blossoms and had a perfect game going through the first three innings. She finished the game with four runs allowed (two earned) off four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. ATU’s Morgan Rodgers (7-9) took the loss after allowing six runs off seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

In the second game, UAM took an early lead in the top of the first, taking advantage of an error by Tech catcher Roxie Palacios that scored Tipton from third base.

In the third, Jackson hit her second round-tripper of the day, a two-run shot to give her team a 5-0 lead. Junior Kendra White later added another run for UAM with an RBI single to right field.

Jackson’s third homerun of the day came in her next at bat with a three-run shot to left center in the fourth to give her team its final 8-0 lead, a large enough margin for the mercy-rule win (eight after five).