ITTA BENA, Miss. – Looking to close out the current four-game road trip with a bang, the University of Central Arkansas softball team will take on Mississippi Valley State, 4 p.m. Wednesday.
UCA (18-19, 5-7 SLC) took the opener at Lamar on Friday before dropping a pair of one-run decisions to the Cardinals to conclude the series. Hanging right in there in seemingly every game, the last four losses the Bears have suffered have all been by one run.
Despite the bats cooling off a bit, Central Arkansas is still the No. 1 scoring offense in the Southland Conference, averaging 5.19 runs per game. The aggressive nature of the Bears contributes to that, ranking 18th in the nation in stolen bases per game (2.05), trailing just Southeastern Louisiana (the No. 1 ranked team in the nation) in that category among SLC teams.
MEET THE DEVILETTES
Mississippi Valley State (3-26, 0-9 SWAC) comes into the bout with the Bears having lost four of its last five games. However, the Devilettes have not played at home since March 17 and have only been at home for three games this season.
Jade Arroyo has appeared in 27 games this season and is hitting a team-high .324. She is first on the squad with 14 RBI. Deshonte Smith is the only other MVSU batter hitting over .300. Smith leads the team in homers with three.
In the circle, Alyssa Montes has compiled a 3.75 ERA over 78.1 innings pitched in 2019. She is 3-9 on the year and has struck out 35 batters along the way. The Devilettes have a 6.53 team-ERA with opponents hitting .336 against the MVSU rotation this season.
BEAR TO WATCH
Climbing up the single-season rankings for stolen bases, center fielder
Kayla Crutchmer is eighth all-time with 26 swipes thus far. The Tulsa, Okla. native needs just nine more on the season to tie the all-time record and 10 to surpass Bear-great Maegan Bell who stole 35 bases in both 2004 and 2005.
Crutchmer has steadily become a nuisance to opposing pitchers. She leads the squad with 12 runs scored in Southland play and has scored 30 runs overall. As the Bears look to get right for a weekend series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, look for the junior to get on base early-and-often and elevate herself into the conversation as one of the most prolific basestealers in UCA history.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats and a live stream will not be available for the contest, so make sure to follow @UCASoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.
