Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Sophomore Brylea Russell had a perfect day at the plate with seven hits to fuel top-rated Murray State to a conference softball sweep at Southern Arkansas Tech Sunday while improving to 40-0 on the year.

Shallen Mershon also homered in each contest as the Lady Aggies cruised to a 13-4 opening win before following up with a 6-0 shutout in the final contest. Coach Aaron Mullens' club will close out the four-game Arkansas road trip with a noon twinbill on Monday at National Park College in Hot Springs.

The Lady Aggies got off to another fast start in the first game as K.J. Morgan drew a one-out walk in the first frame and rode home on a Mershon two-run blast to leftfield to put her squad ahead to stay. Russell also chipped in a RBI single to make it a 3-0 advantage.

Southern Arkansas Tech narrowed the gap with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first but that's as close as the Rockets would get.

Kenzie Tuck blasted a two-run homer to spur a four-run third inning explosion that also included a Russell run-scoring double. They added another three runs to the cushion in the fourth with RBI hits by Russell and Emma Damato. Three more tallies in the fifth capped the scoring for the run rule as Tuck doubled and Russell singled to each drive in their third run of the game.

Russell posted four hits in the victory while Chesnie Hewitt, Abby Beck, Tuck and Rayna Rock all had two hits as part of the 14-hit Murray State onslaught. Jadyn Hook knocked in three runs as well.

Taylor Marchin got the pitching start and notched the victory, yielding two runs on three hits and struck out one in three innings of work. Ileana Lucio and Alexa Hopkins added one frame of relief apiece.

It took until the fifth inning for the Lady Aggies to break the scoring ice in the second contest with a pair of runs, which was plenty of support for the pitching duo of Lucio and Hopkins as they combined for the shutout on just three hits while striking out seven.

Hewitt's two-run single put Murray State in front 2-0 in the fifth and they added another tally in the sixth when Mershon belted a solo home run. Hook notched a double sandwiched around singles from Russell and Damato in a three-run seventh stanza to wrap up the scoring.

Russell's three hits led the offensive charge with Hewitt adding two along with one each by Mershon, Hook and Damato.