MEMPHIS—Senior pitcher Nikki Dunn (Southaven, Miss., Southaven HS) collected her 800th career strikeout in the second inning of game one as the Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs split a Gulf South Conference doubleheader with Arkansas-Monticello Friday afternoon, winning the opener 2-1 but dropping the nightcap 6-3.

The Lady Bucs (14-18, 4-14 GSC) leaned heavily on Dunn in the opener as she turned in a six-hitter with six strikeouts against just one walk.

The Cotton Blossoms (28-7, 7-5 GSC), who entered Friday's game in a tie for first place in the GSC West, scored first in the top of the third as Amy Mardis hit a leadoff single and scored on a Katie Bowman sacrifice fly.

The Lady Bucs answered quickly in the bottom of the inning.  Brooke Davis (Southaven, Miss./Southaven HS) drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a wild pitch.  She scored on a one-out Victoria Mathews (Arlington, Texas/Mansfield Timberview HS) double.

From there, neither team scored until the bottom of the seventh, when Dunn (12-8) provided her own run support for the victory.  She led off with a double to center, and she scored the game-winner on a Kathleen Nelson (Bartlett, Tenn./Bolton HS) single through the right side.

In the nightcap, the Lady Bucs took a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, turning three singles and three errors into three runs.  In the top of the third, though, it was the Cotton Blossoms taking advantage of the extra outs, scoring four times on three hits, an error, and a walk.

They tacked on another run in the fourth and one in the seventh to set the final margin at 6-3.

Michelle Paul (Arlington, Texas/Mansfield Summit HS) went 2-for-3 for the Lady Bucs in the second game, while Alyse Brewer (Florence, Ala./Florence HS) was 2-for-4.

The Lady Bucs and Cotton Blossoms meet again tomorrow at noon for a doubleheader.