BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Central Arkansas softball team returned to Tiger Park for the second day of the LSU Tiger Classic on Saturday. The Bears faced the Duke Blue Devils in game one and faced the Kansas Jayhawks in game two.
The Bears fell to 0-2 overall, while Duke improved to 4-0. In game two, UCA dropped a heartbreaker and are 0-3 on the season, while Kansas is now 1-2.
Game One Duke 7, UCA 5
The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the top of the first with a one-out home run. After a single, Kristina Foreman set one over the left-field wall and extended Duke's lead to 3-0.
Rio Sanchez managed to get out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the Blue Devils from scoring any more runs.
In the bottom of the third,
Reagan Sperling made a catch up against the wall and robbed a home run, as
Rio Sanchez was able to retire Duke in Order.
Errors plagued the Bears in the top of the fifth, as UCA made two errors which led to three more runs for Duke. The Blue Devils held a 6-0 lead as the game went to the home half of the fifth.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth,
Lexi McClellan lined a ball into right center for a triple.
Jenna Wildeman followed with an infield single to third base and allowed McClellan to score from third. The Bears cut the deficit to 6-1 after five innings.
Tremere Harris made a spectacular play as she ran down a deep fly ball and robbed Duke's Kristina Foreman of a home run. Harris made the catch on the run and managed to hold onto the ball as she hit the wall simultaneously. The defensive play kept Duke off of the scoreboard and provided a spark for the UCA offense in the bottom half of the inning.
Reagan Sperling led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to the pitcher. After
Kaylyn Shepherd was hit by a pitch,
Cylla Hill blasted a no doubter over the left-field wall for a three-run home run.
Tylar Vernon doubled down the right-field line and advanced to third on a ground out.
Kristen Whitehouse recorded a sac fly on a deep foul ball and pulled UCA within one. Central Arkansas trailed 6-5 after six innings of play.
Duke added a run in the top of the seventh and went on to win the game 7-5.
Wildeman led UCA at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI. Hill was 2-for-4 at the dish with three RBIs and a run scored.
Rio Sanchez got her first start of the season in the circle for UCA. Sanchez went six innings and struck out two. She surrendered seven runs on seven hits, but only five runs were earned.
Jordan Johnson struck out two batters and gave up just one hit in her inning of relief.
Gisele Tapia and Foreman provided the offensive power as they both hit home runs. Claire Davidson picked up the win for the Blue Devils. She went five innings, struck out nine, and gave up five runs, all of them were earned. Brianna Butler earned the save with two innings of work and two strikeouts.
Game Two Kansas 4, UCA 2
Kansas jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The first two runs came off of a homer to center field. A single to right field plated one run, while an error allowed the fourth run of the inning to score.
Hill started the top of the second with a four-pitch walk. Whitehouse launched a one-out double to left center as Hill motored her way around the bases to score from first.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Hill doubled to right center. Hill advanced to third on a wild pitch. Whitehouse reached on a throwing error and allowed Hill to score from third. UCA cut the Jayhawk lead in half, 4-2, after four innings of play.
In the bottom of the sixth, Scott made a catch deep in left field and riffled a throw home, to keep the Jayhawk runner at third.
Wildeman went 2-for-3 at the plate in game two. Hill was 1-for-2 at the plate and scored both of UCA's runs. Whitehouse finished the game 1-for-3 and collected the only RBI.
Kayla Beaver started in the circle for the Bears. She went 5.1 innings with two strikeouts, but gave up four runs, three earned, and surrendered 10 hits. Johnson recorded a strikeout in 0.2 innings of relief.
Sydnee Ramsey led the Jayhawks with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, including a two-run home run and a double. Tatum Goff pitched a complete game, struck out 11 and walked one. She gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits. Kansas went on to win the game 4-2.
The Bears close out the trip in Baton Rouge, with a doubleheader against No. 5 LSU. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday and both games will be on SECN+.
From the Coach – Head Coach David Kuhn
"To play championship softball, we must execute on all three phases of the game, pitching, defense and timely hitting for seven innings. We have yet to play seven solid innings of softball, but that's on me. We will continue to play hard and work on our execution of all three phases."
Follow the Bears
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
