NATCHITOCHES, La. — In Thursday's opener, a first-inning home run provided Central Arkansas all the runs it needed for a win. In their second game, it was again a home run that lifted the Bears to victory – this time, in the last inning.
Senior catcher Melanie Bryant, the school's career home run record holder, provided the lone run of the game with a ninth-inning blast to put Central Arkansas (38-18) ahead 1-0, and the fourth-seeded Bears shut down the top-seeded Cowgirls (38-14) in the bottom half of the inning to secure the win and advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament on Friday.
"It was a great pitcher's duel," said Central Arkansas head coach David Kuhn, who owns the top two seasons in program history with a combined 74 wins over the previous two years. "Both pitchers threw great and they are arguably two of the best pitchers in the league with Meagan Bond (McNeese State) and Kelsie Armstrong (Central Arkansas). We were just fortunate enough to get one huge break with Melanie's home run. We're just going to enjoy this win tonight and get ready for tomorrow."
The teams battled to a scoreless draw through the first eight innings, with neither team recording a hit until the fourth inning. The Bears had runners on first and second with one out in the top of the sixth, but back-to-back popups to second base ended the inning. UCA nearly struck in the seventh as freshman Jessie Taylor, whose three-run home run in the day's first game lifted the Bears to a 3-0 victory against Lamar, lifted a hard-hit fly ball deep to the outfield that looked to be gone before getting caught up in the wind blowing in from center field.
Bryant broke the tie in the ninth with her team-leading 10th home run of the season, and the Cowgirls went down in the bottom half of the inning with a strikeout, a pop foul to third base and – after Marissa Koetting reached after being hit by a pitch – Katie Roux grounded out to end the game and send the Bears on to Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal matchup.
Kelsie Armstrong, after tossing a shutout in the day's first game, followed suit with another against the Cowgirls, allowing just three hits and striking out 12 in recording her 16th shutout of the year. She also picked up her 30th win of the season, which puts her one away from tying the Southland's single-season record. For the day, Armstrong threw 16 scoreless innings and struck out 17.
The Bears are scheduled to play once on Friday, with a win putting them in Saturday's championship game in the double-elimination tournament.
