CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas softball team earned a 6-1 victory in game one before falling in the nightcap, 5-3, to Northwestern State Tuesday evening at Farris Field.
With the split, UCA’s record moved to 25-11 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Lady Demons went to 13-19 and 2-4 in league play.
In the day’s opening game, the Bears were led to victory with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate by freshman shortstop Lissa Avitia. Avitia had a two-run single in the second inning to give UCA a 3-0 lead and then later made the score 6-1 with the first home run of her career.
Nicole Beals, who had the ball jumping off her bat in every at bat, was also key in the victory as she finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Tiffany Roby added two hits for the Bears and Melanie Bryant and Stephanie Lasley each added a hit and an RBI in the victory.
UCA earned 10 hits off of Northwestern State starting pitcher Brooke Boening, who allowed six runs—four earned—while striking out four. Boening fell to 3-3 on the year.
Meanwhile, Kelsie Armstrong improved her record to 14-7 with the complete game victory. She struck out 10 and allowed just five hits and one run. The one blemish was a home run off the bat of Brianna Rodriguez in the fourth inning.
In the second game, the Bears pounded out another 10 hits but left eight runners on base in the 5-3 loss. The Lady Demons made it 1-0 in the first with a Kylie Roos RBI single. The Bears answered with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the first by Ashley Boswell, making it 1-1.
In the second inning, the Lady Demons added a pair of runs thanks to a two-run homer by Cassandra Barfield. Not to be outdone, Avitia answered in the bottom half of the inning with her second home run of the day, a two run shot out to left.
After the second inning, each starting pitcher began to settle in, but UCA starter Cami Newsome found trouble in the top of the sixth. A walk, an error, and a double gave Northwestern State a 4-3 lead and then the Lady Demons got an insurance run when Cali Burke executed a one-out squeeze play.
The Bears had a rally going in the seventh as the first two hitters reached, but Northwestern State brought in Roos out of the bullpen to record three straight outs to earn the save and seal the victory.
The top of the order led the way again for UCA in game two as Avitia finished 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Beals was perfect at the dish, going 3-for-3 with a walk.
Northwestern State starting pitcher Kelee Grimes earned the victory and improved to 6-7 overall. She allowed three runs on nine hits while striking out three. Newsome was hit with the loss for UCA. She fell to 9-3 on the year.
The Bears return to action this weekend when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in another Southland series. The Bears and the Islanders will get the series underway at 6 p.m. Friday, before wrapping play Saturday at noon.
