HAMMOND, La. – The Central Arkansas softball team played its second game of the day at North Oak Park on Friday against the Northwestern State Lady Demons.
Kaylyn Shepherd had a huge game at the plate for the Bears as she belted two home runs and accounted for three runs. UCA improved to 36-18 on the year, while NSU fell to 24-22 on the season. The Central Arkansas season is still alive with the 5-2 victory.
Shepherd put the Bears on the board first with a solo blast to right field in the top of the first.
In the bottom of the first, Northwestern State took a 2-1 lead on a sac fly followed by a single.
In the bottom of the third, the Lady Demons loaded the bases, but
Jordan Johnson was resilient and closed the door to get out of the inning unscathed.
NSU started to gain some momentum in the bottom of the fourth. After a pitching change,
Kayla Beaver got out of the inning without surrendering a run.
Jenna Wildeman recorded a one-out single through the left side to get things started for the Bears in the top of the fifth.
Mary Kate Brown followed with a single through the left side and advanced to third. Shepherd flied out foul, but Brown advanced to second. With two outs,
Cylla Hill came up huge with a hard liner to right that scored Wildeman and Brown. UCA took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth,
Tremere Harris made a spectacular diving catch on a ball that was sinking away from her for the third out.
Brown led off the top of the seventh with a single up the middle. On the very first pitch she saw, Shepherd launched a no-doubter over the right field wall to extend the UCA lead to 5-2.
The Lady Demons did not go down easily in the bottom of the seventh. They managed to get two runners on, but Beaver closed the door and secured the 5-2 victory.
Beaver improved to 20-6 in the circle for UCA. She went 3.1 innings in relief. She struck out two and surrendered just one hit. Johnson got the start and went 3.2 innings. She collected three strikeouts and gave up two earned runs on just three hits.
Shepherd finished the game with a 2-for-4 performance with two home runs and three RBIs. Hill also went 2-for-4 and added two RBIs. Hitters one through five in the lineup all produced two hits each in the game. Wildeman picked up her 56th stolen base of the season and extended her NCAA lead to 10 stolen bases more than second.
EC Delafield earned the loss and went 6.2 innings. She gave up five earned runs on 12 hits and struck out three. Kenzie Seely went 0.1 inning in relief and faced just one batter. Delafield led the Lady Demons at the plate with a 2-for-3 game, including a run scored.
UCA returns to the diamond for a game with Stephen F. Austin. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday and will be for a chance to play for the Southland Championship.
From the Coach – Head Coach David Kuhn
"Wow what a game! It was a really good softball game for both teams. Northwestern State played really well. EC threw a great game. We came up with some really big plays on defense.
Jordan Johnson and
Kayla Beaver threw really well. Shepherd came up huge with two bombs!
Cylla Hill came up big with two RBIs late. It was an exciting game and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
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