HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It was a 1-1 start to 2019 for the University of Central Arkansas softball squad after splitting a back-to-back with Jackson State and Southern Miss on the opening day of the Black and Gold Invitational at the Southern Miss Softball Complex. The Bears defeated Jackson State 9-3 before falling to host-USM 12-4 on a chilly night in Mississippi.
UCA 9, JACKSON STATE 3
It took a couple of innings for UCA to find its "bear"ings in the season opener. However, once they did, they were dominate over Jackson State. After surrendering three runs in the opening inning, Central Arkansas outscored the Tigers 9-0 through the final seven frames to earn victory No. 1 of 2019 and victory No. 300 of head coach David Kuhn's UCA tenure.
NOTABLES
- Cylla Hill was up to her 2017 ways. She destroyed Tiger pitching all day, finishing the contest 3-3, including one double and three RBIs.
- Rachel Haberman (1-0) settled in nicely after a shaky first inning in the circle. She tossed a complete game with three strikeouts and allowed just one earned run in her 2019 debut.
- Oakley Sisemore had a very productive day at the plate and on the basepaths. She finished 2-3 with two runs scored and one RBI while also snagging two bases.
- Freshman Tylar Vernon picked up her first career hit and first career RBI with a pinch-hit double.
- Kaylyn Shepherd backed up her Preseason First Team All-Southland Conference selection with a 3-4 day including an RBI.
- The Bears swiped four bases against Jackson State.
- UCA hit 6-18 (.333) with runners in scoring position for the game.
SOUTHERN MISS 12, UCA 4
The much-improved Southern Miss offense was on full display in the second game of UCA's doubleheader. The Golden Eagles tallied 14 hits and pushed across 12 runs en route to victory over the Bears.
NOTABLES
- Libby Morris was a bright spot at the plate for UCA. She finished the contest 2-3 with two RBIs and a walk.
- Hill capped off a perfect 4-4 day at the plate with another base hit and one RBI in the nightcap. She is batting a perfect 1.000 with a team-high four RBIs.
- Rio Sanchez (0-1) took the loss as four different Bears saw their first action of 2019 in the circle (Ellie Reaves, Kailla Searcy and Jordan Johnson).
- Reagan Sperling drove in the fourth and final run for UCA on an RBI-fielder's choice.
- Lauren Brooks finished the day 2-5 with two RBIs on a couple of hard-hit doubles.
- The Bears committed three errors pushing their opening day total to five.
QUOTING COACH KUHN
On Jackson State:
"I thought Rachel did a good job of settling in after the first inning," said Kuhn. "It was a good team win and we were able to get a lot players in the game. Overall, I was pleased with how we settled down and started playing well against Jackson State."
On Southern Miss:
"We had a couple of rough innings, but Southern Miss had a lot to do with that," Kuhn said. "They had 14 hits so it's tough to beat that. We hit some balls hard but give them credit. They made plays. We made too many mistakes against Southern Miss and you can't do that when you are trying to dig yourself out of a hole."
Overall:
"We looked a lot like it was opening day," chuckled Kuhn. "I thought Cylla and
Lauren Brooks hit the ball hard and did a good job for us at the plate along with some others. We had some really good moments and we had some not so good moments. The important thing is for us to rest and turn our focus towards tomorrow. We got some girls already a little banged up so we need to get the rest."
ON DECK
The Bears resume action in the Black and Gold Invitational with a 10 a.m. tilt against Tennessee Tech tomorrow morning. UCA will then get a rematch with Jackson State at 12:30 to conclude its four-game tournament stay.
FOLLOW ALONG
Both Saturday matchups can be streamed through FloSoftball. Live stats for each contest is also available by following the links at the top of the page. Play-by-play and updates are available on Twitter via @UCASoftball and @UCAScoreboard.
