WOODSTOCK, Ga. – The UCA softball team was back in action today at the Twin Creeks Softball Complex in Georgia and they suffered a pair of setbacks after having won five straight. The Bears fell this morning to Georgia State, 4-3, before dropping an afternoon game to Indiana, 6-2.
Georgia State 4, UCA 3
A two-run walk off home run by Georgia State shortstop Brenna Morrissey snapped UCA’s five-game winning streak, as the Bears fell 4-3 Saturday morning to the Panthers.
UCA once led the contest 3-0 after a two-run fourth inning. In that inning, Ashley Boswell hit a solo shot to right field, and it was later followed by a Katie McGregor RBI single.
Georgia State answered with a couple of runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame on a two-run shot by Paige Nowacki. Bear pitchers surrendered just four hits in the game, the two two-run shots were too much to overcome, however.
UCA pounded out six hits and freshman Tiffany Roby, who belted two long balls in a 10-1 win over Bradley on Friday night, added her third of the season to open the scoring in the top of the second inning.
The stage was set for the Bears to win their sixth straight, leading 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Panther second baseman Whitney Phillips reached base to lead off the inning on, what would turn out to be, a very costly error by UCA pitcher Kelsie Armstrong. After the next hitter flew out to left, Morrissey came up and hit the two-run blast to center to end the game.
Freshman Taylor Barclay got the start in the circle for the Bears. She tossed three innings and allowed two runs on two hits while striking out two. Armstrong was tagged with the loss in relief, sending her record to 4-5 overall. Kaitlyn Medlam improved her record to 3-1 for the Panthers with the win. She struck out four UCA hitters over three innings of no-hit ball.
Indiana 6, UCA 2
Indiana pounded out 13 hits and starting pitcher Meaghan Murphy allowed just two UCA runs on nine hits in her complete game effort as the Hoosiers handed the Bears their second loss on Saturday, 6-2.
UCA seemingly had something going in every inning, but couldn’t crack the scoreboard until the sixth inning when Roby hit an RBI single down the leftfield line. The Bears got their second run in the seventh when Kasey Britt’s leadoff single was turned into a score on a Melanie Bryant sacrifice fly.
That’s all the UCA offense could churn out though, as Murphy improved to 2-2 on the year for Indiana. Meanwhile, Cami Newsome (6-1) suffered her first loss of the year as she allowed two runs on three hits in an inning of work.
Indiana (7-6) used back-to-back doubles by Breanna Saucedo and Jenna Abraham to set the tone in the first inning. They would each come around to score, making the game 2-0. After the Hoosiers added another in the second, Shannon Cawley increased the Indiana lead with a two-run homer to left in the fifth inning. A Samantha Berenter solo shot in the seventh, gave Indiana a five-run cushion which proved to be more than UCA could overcome.
UCA, who was out-hit 13-9 in the contest, was led by a three hit efforts by Boswell and Britt.
The Bears will look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow as they wrap up action at the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Classic against Saint Louis. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
