The Golden Suns softball team concluded play in its own Spring Slam Tournament Sunday at its new Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex, collecting wins in its final two games of the five-team tournament.

Tech, which improved to 11-3 overall on the season, opened Sunday’s final day by collecting a 12-0 win that was called after five innings due to the 8-run rule over William Penn and then finished the day by posting an 8-3 win over Drury [MO]. The win over Drury was the second of the season for the Golden Suns as Tech claimed a 3-2 win over the Lady Panthers last Saturday at the GSC/Midwest Crossover Tournament in Tunica, Miss.

For the second straight day, Tech’s offense was in high gear as the Golden Suns combined to record 20 hits over the two games, including hitting its first home run in its new home park in the win over William Penn. In addition, Tech had four extra base hits and stole six bases on the afternoon.

With its two wins on Sunday, Tech is just one win shy of matching last season’s victory total of 12 and is off to its best start in the program’s six-year history.

In other games on Sunday, Northwest Missouri State collected a 10-7 win over William Penn, while the Lady Bearcats closed the tournament with a 5-4 win over Pittsburg State. Pittsburg State and Drury were scheduled to play each other by wet field conditions at Hickey Park forced tournament officials and both coaches to cancel that game.

In the opener against William Penn, Tech put the game away in the first inning as it sent 11 hitters to the plate and collected five hits and scored seven runs. In the inning, junior rightfielder Sarah Pratt led off the game with a single to left and stole second, before advancing to third on a single by senior leftfielder Terra Brenner, before scoring on an error by WPU shortstop Ashley Larry. Junior centerfielder Krista Cifuentes drove in the second run on her single through the left side and Tech scored its third run on passed ball by WPU catcher Ashley Provenzano. Sophomore third baseman Taylor Gates gave Tech a 5-0 lead on her two-run single to right field, before freshman second baseman Shanda Jimeson drove in the sixth run on a groudout and Pratt completed the scoring with her infield RBI single, which scored Gates.

The seven runs would be more than enough for sophomore pitcher Casey Hammons scattered two hits over five innings and struck out five and walked one to improve to 5-1 on the season. Tech added five more runs in the third inning thanks to a wild pitch by WPU pitcher Brianna Olivas, an RBI single by Pratt and a three-run home run by freshman first baseman Tiphani Moon. Moon’s homer was the first by Tech at the Chartwells Complex and the fifth homer of the day as Northwest Missouri and William Penn combined to hit four dingers in the Lady Bearcats 10-7 win.

Pratt led Tech’s offense, batting 3-for-3 with two runs scored and 2 RBIs, while Brenner, Moon, Hammons and senior shortstop Molly Schweigert each had two hits in the win and Moon and Gates combined to drive in five of Tech’s 12 runs. Meanwhile in Tech’s final game of the tournament, the Golden Suns scored seven runs over the final two innings to post its 8-3 come-from-behind victory against Drury.

Tech took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning on an error by Drury pitcher Brittany Davis, which allowed freshman designated player Jessica Fields to score. Davis had led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on Jimeson’s bunt. Drury, though, came right back in the bottom of the fifth and scored two runs thanks to three straight singles off of senior Dana Aldrich to take the lead.

Trailing 3-2, Tech sent seven batters to the plate in the sixth inning and scored three runs off of three hits and an error by Lady Panther leftfielder Casey Elliott on her dropped fly ball by Gates and then added four runs in the seventh, including a tworun triple by Schweigert to push in front 8-3.

Aldrich (4-2 on the season) earned the win as she tossed 5.1 innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs, while striking out six and walking one. Hammons, who relieved Aldrich with one out in the bottom of the sixth, pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn her first save of the season. Hammons allowed just one hit and struck out five, including striking out Drury’s final three hitters of the game looking.

Schweigert led Tech’s nine hit attack with two hits and also scored two runs and drove in two runs, while Fields added two hits in the victory.

Davis took the loss on the mound for Drury as she tossed six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs, while striking out two and walking one.

Tech will return to action next weekend when they travel to Monticello, Ark., to compete in the UAM/Super 8 Motel Tournament.