JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After winning a first game on Friday to stave off elimination, the Central Arkansas softball team couldn't find enough runs in the second game of the day to reach the ASUN Championship Finals. After trouncing Kennesaw State 5-1, the Bears fell in the last game of the day to bow out of the tournament for a third-place finish against North Florida.
The Bears (35-20, 17-7 ASUN) had early offense in both games, with all six runs on the day scored in the first two innings, proving to be enough against the Owls, but not quite what would be needed against the Ospreys.
Game One: Central Arkansas – 5, Kennesaw State – 1
Central Arkansas wasted little time getting the bats going in the first inning, as
Mary Kate Brown got on base with a two-out double.
Jaylee Engelkes reached on a fielding error, moving Brown over to third. Coming up to bat with a home run already to her name in the tournament,
Morgan Nelson clobbered another one, driving in three runs to jump out to an early lead.
Attempting to build an early, comfortable lead,
Kristen Whitehouse knocked a one-out double, quickly putting the Kennesaw State pitcher back in trouble. Just as in the first, another batter reached via a fielding error, after which
Tylar Vernon was able to reach second before the defense could regain control.
Tremere Harris walked to load the bases, and Brown came back up and drove in another pair of runs, with Vernon crossing home after reacting to a third error on the Owls.
Entering the fourth inning,
Kayla Beaver had not allowed a baserunner, simply obliterating the lineup. With the fourth, she continued the trend, as three Owls came to the plate, grounded to shortstop
Kristen Whitehouse and went back to the dugout.
Beaver's perfect game would last until the second batter of the fifth frame, when Kennesaw State finally tagged a single through the middle. From there, the lineup was able to work the runner around for a single score, the lone run of the game for the Owls.
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 1, North Florida – 3
The Bears were the first team to strike again in the second game of the day, getting rid of a pair of baserunners in the top of the first. Coming up to bat,
Tremere Harris dropped a first-pitch bunt to get on base. Getting moved over on a groundout, Harris scored on
Jaylee Engelkes' single into left center, her 50
th RBI of the season.
North Florida threatened in the second, putting runners on second and third before
Jordan Johnson induced a flyout to get out of the jam. Central Arkansas put a runner on in the bottom half of the inning but couldn't bring home another score to widen the lead.
The lead would hold until the fifth inning, as the Ospreys battled through a couple of at bats to bring home the tying run on the third batter of the frame. A couple of batters later, North Florida added another on a one-out groundout, putting the third run of the inning up on a fielding error.
From there, the Bears struggled to put baserunners on, earning most of their remaining runners through walks. Even with players available on the basepaths, consistent hitting just wasn't there for the last few innings, as Central Arkansas closed its first season in the ASUN with a third-place finish in the conference tournament.
