OXFORD, Miss. – The Central Arkansas softball team returned to the diamond for a road contest at Ole Miss on Tuesday. Despite outhitting the Rebels, the Bears were unable to knock off the SEC foe.
Tremere Harris scored UCA's only run.
Harris recorded a one-out single to left field. Harris then stole second and a throwing error by the catcher allowed Harris to score. The Bears held a 1-0 lead as the game went to the bottom of the third.
The Rebels tied the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI double off of the bat of Paige Smith. Ole Miss took a 2-1 lead on a ground out by Autumn Gillespie. The Rebels added another run with a single up the middle by Blaise Biringer to give the Rebels a 3-1 lead as the game went to the top of the fourth.
Kaylyn Shepherd led off the top of the fourth with a single down the left field line.
Megan Crownover came in to pinch run for Shepherd.
Cylla Hill followed with a hard liner down the third base line for a single. Crownover was thrown out at third on a stolen base attempt. The Bears were able to get runners on the corners with two outs after a single to left by
Kristen Whitehouse. Central Arkansas got three hits in the inning, but were unable to add any runs to the tally.
Erin Blackburn pinch hit for the Bears to lead off the top of the fifth. She battled to a full count before she singled to left field. Blackburn moved into scoring position on a ground out by Harris.
Jenna Wildeman reached on a fielder's choice as Blackburn got caught in a rundown and was eventually tagged out. Wildeman stole second and gave the Bears a runner on second with two outs. Central Arkansas was not able to get any more runs on the board.
Biringer led off the bottom of the sixth with an inside the park home run and gave Ole Miss a 4-1 lead.
Harris led the Bears with a 1-for-2 performance at the plate and scored the team's only run. Blackburn, Shepherd, Hill, and Whitehouse each added hits for UCA.
Kayla Beaver threw a complete game with two strikeouts and gave up four runs on four hits with four walks. She falls to 11-4 on the season.
Biringer led the Rebels with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, including a homer with two RBIs. Smith and Tate Whitley added the only other hits for the Rebels. Anna Borgen picked up the win and improved to 8-4 on the year. She struck out four in 5.1 innings of work. Savannah Diederich added 1.2 innings in relief and earned the save with three strikeouts.
The Bears return to the diamond on Wednesday for a midweek matchup with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
From the Coach – Head Coach David Kuhn
"We pitched well enough to win. It all comes down to some base running mistakes and it turned out to be the difference in the game. We stranded too many runners in scoring position."
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