Natchitoches, La. – The Central Arkansas Bears and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders took the field for the opening game of the 2015 Southland Conference Softball Tournament on Wednesday morning. Three and half hours and 13 innings later, the third-seeded Bears emerged victorious, taking down the sixth-seeded Islanders 1-0.

The Bears and Islanders found themselves locked in a pitcher's duel, with Central Arkansas' Kylee Studioso and AMCC's Liz Carter combining for 25 strikeouts and 16 hits allowed in 13 innings pitched.

UCA had multiple chances in regulation, as the Bears stranded eight runners in scoring position over the game's first seven innings. The Bears' best shot in regulation came in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with no outs. First baseman Ashley Boswell was hit by a pitch to open the inning, before being lifted for pinch runner Brianna McArthur. Center fielder Amy Gunnells worked a five-pitch walk and third baseman Sam Forrest poked a single back up the middle to load the bags for right fielder Briana Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt lofted a fly ball into foul territory down the left field line, where AMCC left fielder Dani Teft caught the ball and came up firing, delivering a strike to just barely beat out McArthur at the plate. A ground out ended the threat and sent the game to extra innings.

The Islanders mounted a threat of their own in the top of the tenth, leading off the inning with a pair of singles. Studioso shut down the rally though, getting a strikeout, a flyout, and another strikeout to leave the go-ahead run standing on third base.
 

After Studioso and Carter continued their battle of wills through the 11^th and 12^th innings, the Bears finally broke the drought in the bottom of the 13^th. Shortstop Hayley Parker got the rally started with a single just under the outstretched glove of Islander second baseman Hayley Galloway, before advancing to third on a single from Boswell. Gunnells then came through for the Bears, looping a sinking line drive to shallow right that fell just in front of a diving Mickayla Cochran.

"We kept battling and chipping away and Kylee threw great," said Central Arkansas head coach David Kuhn. "Corpus Christi threw great today, so we were fortunate to string three hits together and come away with the win.  Kylee is a phenomenal player and she's been the backbone of our team this entire season. It's a blessing to have a pitcher like that."

Whisenhunt led the Central Arkansas offense on the day, going 3-for-6 at the plate and stealing a pair of bases. Designated player Audrey Pratt and left fielder Hannah Stirton each collected a pair of hits.

Studioso (25-12) earned the win for the Bears, limiting the Islanders to just four hits and a walk while striking out 15. Carter took the loss, surrendering a lone run on 12 hits and three walks in 12.1 innings.

"As the game went on, I knew that we were going to pull through," said Studioso. "I knew that if I just kept us in it then then my teammates were going to have my back. Towards the end, we knew that we had more energy than Corpus Christi did, and we just kept going."

The Bears move on to a second-round matchup with second seeded McNeese State this evening at 6:00 PM. "A win like this brings so much momentum," said Studioso of the Bears' next game. "We just fought through that, and they've just been sitting there waiting on us to finish; we've got this."