CONWAY, Ark. – A two-run walk off double in the bottom of the seventh inning off the bat of freshman Tiffany Roby sent the crowd of 438, second largest in Farris Field history, home happy as UCA came back and defeated Ole Miss by the score of 6-5.
Roby had already provided a huge lift offensively, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead in the second winning when she hit her fifth home run of the season into the UCA bullpen in left field. Roby, who had been struggling coming off the week in which she was named Southland Hitter of the Week, finished the contest 2-for-4 with four RBI.
The 2-0 UCA lead was cut in half in the top of the fourth when Ole Miss pinch runner Jayla Hubbard rounded third on a bunt single by Brittany Broome and scored thanks to a throwing error. The Rebels then drew even in the fifth on an RBI single off the bat of Londen Ladner.
The Bears responded in the fifth and regained the lead after back-to-back RBI singles by freshmen Ashley Boswell and Lissa Avitia made the score 4-2.
That lead appeared to be enough for UCA starting pitcher Kelsie Armstrong, who struck out a season-high 10 batters. Heading to the seventh inning, Ole Miss had scattered just five hits on the evening but the Rebels wouldn’t go quietly. The first two Ole Miss hitters reached base safely, putting runners on first and second. Armstrong then recovered and got the next two outs on a fly out and a ground out to first. With two on and two out, Ladner temporarily let the air out of the UCA crowd as she drilled a three-run home run to center, giving the Rebels a 5-4 lead.
For the second straight game, however, the Bears had a seventh inning come back on their mind.
After a line out began the bottom of the seventh, the next three Bears reached base. Boswell drew a walk to get things going. Avitia followed that up with her third hit of the day and Nicole Beals reached on catcher’s interference. It set the stage for Roby’s walk-off double to right center that was just out of the grasp of Ole Miss right fielder Amanda Hutcheson.
Armstrong was credited with the victory, improving her 2012 record to 10-5. With the victory, the Lake Hamilton product has now won her last six starts. She allowed five runs, four of which were earned, on seven hits. Erinn Jayjohn took the loss for the Rebels and fell to 1-3.
The freshmen trio of Boswell, Avitia and Roby led the way offensively for the Bears, finishing a combined 6-for-11 with all six RBI and three runs scored.
Ole Miss, who fell to 0-4 this season in road games, was led offensively by Corrine Doornberg’s 3-for-4 effort and Ladner’s 2-for-3, four RBI performance.
UCA returns to action this weekend when they open Southland Conference play on the road at UTSA. The teams will meet Friday at 6 p.m. before playing the series finale on Saturday at 2 p.m.
