NATCHITOCHES, La. — The best season in Central Arkansas softball history came to a close on Saturday in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament as the fourth-seeded Bears were eliminated one game shy of the championship with a 12-4 loss to third-seeded Sam Houston State.
The Bears, who finished with a program-record 38 wins and got the first two postseason victories in UCA softball history, came up short of adding Southland Conference Tournament champions and an NCAA Tournament appearance to their list of accomplishments as the Bearkats (36-23) converted 18 hits, two walks and two UCA errors into 12 runs – including 11 over the final three innings.
UCA (38-20) scored twice in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, getting an RBI double from senior Melissa Bryant to score freshman Sam Forrest followed by a sacrifice RBI by senior Melanie Bryant. The Bearkats then took a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning, and added three more in the top half of the sixth to make it 8-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Bears retaliated with a pair of runs, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit by pitch with no outs. After the Bearkats reinserted starter Shelby Lancaster for Meme Quinn, the Bears got runs when sophomore Tiffany Roby reached on an error and Forrest drove in freshman Lindsay Elliott with a sacrifice fly. Lancaster then retired the next two UCA batters to cut short the Bears' comeback bid.
It was the final game for senior pitcher Kelsie Armstrong, the 2013 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year, twins Melanie and Melissa Bryant, outfielder Stephanie Lasley (who missed the last several weeks due to injury) and Cristin Curl - who joined the team as a pinch runner for the last two seasons, also playing one season for the Central Arkansas women's soccer team after four years as the starting libero for the conference-champion volleyball program.
In her final game, Melissa Bryant broke the program's single-season record for doubles, hitting her 18th of the year with her RBI in the sixth inning. Melanie Bryant had her 44th RBI of the season, tying for second-most in a season at UCA.
Armstrong, whose 30 wins was the most in the league since 2003, had three strikeouts in her final appearance to finish with 366 for the season and 1,050 for her career – one of just 65 players in Division I history to reach that mark.
The Bears finish a two-year run in which they won 74 games, 19 games better than any two-year period prior to 2012, and had their best two Southland Conference finishes – finishing third in 2012 and fourth this season.
