CONWAY, Ark. – Madi Young put herself in the dictionary as the definition of "clutch" on Friday, walking off both games of a doubleheader against Florida Gulf Coast. The junior shortstop ended game one on a two-run homer and then followed it up with an RBI single to take game two in the bottom of the seventh.
Young's heroics boosted the softball team's record to 26-8 with a 10-1 ASUN slate, now having clinched a win in all four conference series. The Bears outscored the Eagles 13-3 across two games, winning the first 10-1 and then sneaking by in game two for a 3-2 finish.
Game One: Central Arkansas – 10, FGCU – 1
Jordan Johnson opened the series with two strikeouts in a three-up, three-down top of the first, a sneak peak of the dominant outing the senior would put on. Now on offense, the Bears wasted little time jumping out to a lead.
Tremere Harris led off with a single, zipping one up the middle past the infield to reach base on her first plate appearance for the seventh game in eight times.
Madi Young walked a couple of batters later, and the pair was driven home by
Morgan Nelson, who crushed her ninth homer of the season for the early lead.
The Eagles got on base in the second inning, but couldn't do anything with the runner.
Josie Willingham started the home half of the frame with a walk, hoping to add to the lead. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and then to third on another single by Harris. The Conway, Ark., native stole second to put both runners in scoring position.
Enter
Kylie Griffin, up to bat with one home run this season, facing the Eagle pitcher with one out. Taking a 2-2 count, the sophomore infielder turned on a pitch and drove it straight to center, punching it 230 feet to add three more to the lead. The third inning would pass without incident, leaving the Bears leading 6-0 going into the fourth.
Gulf Coast threatened in the fourth, piecing together back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases. But the sixth batter of the inning popped one up into foul territory, where Griffin collected it for the third out to eliminate the scoring opportunity. Central Arkansas went to work in to try to build the lead, starting with another Harris single, the third of game one for the outfielder. She advanced to third on a Griffin single and an error by the first baseman, and would quickly come home on a fielder's choice by Young. Griffin would score on the next at bat, going home on a steal attempt by Young that opened the basepath home.
Finally scoring, the Eagles got on the board with a triple and a groundout in the fifth, preventing the run-rule win quite that early. It would take all the way until the sixth inning for Griffin and Young to combine with a single and a home run, respectively, for the two-run inning to finish off game one.
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 3, FGCU – 2
The Bears picked up where they left off after winning game one, so it seemed, as
Tremere Harris again led off getting on base, this time a walk. After being bunted over to second, Harris would score on a
Madi Young single, establishing the lead once again.
But unlike the first outing, the offense would not jump out by more than a handful of runs in game two, stagnating at the one run for most of the game. FGCU responded in the third, finding four consecutive at bats to load the bases and drive in two runs on a single to the outfield and an error.
Florida Gulf Coast would hold onto its lead until the fifth inning, with the Bears mirroring the first inning scoring play.
Jenna Wildeman walked, moving over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Griffin tripled to the wall, sending an Eagle scrambling as it ricocheted off the fence, allowing Wildeman to coast through home plate to even the score at 2-2.
Kayla Beaver and the defense held strong through the top of the seventh, sitting down the Eagles in order in the sixth and seventh, giving Central Arkansas a chance to walk off another game. And just like the other two scoring plays, it took three at bats to get the job done. Harris knocked an infield single and moved to second on a Griffin walk. Young then smacked a single to right field, allowing the speed of Harris to be unleashed as she was sent home, and the junior speedster dove across the plate to win the game and the series. Beaver, for her part, decimated the Eagle lineup, striking out 11 batters while allowing just four hits.
The one-two punch of Harris and Griffin in the top two spots of the order was dynamic on Friday, combining for 9-for-12 with eight runs scored. Griffin combined for a cycle across the two games, hitting a single and home run in game one, following with a double and triple in game two. The Bears also left Farris Field knowing that they had successfully avenged both series losses from last season, having defeated North Florida and FGCU this year.
Central Arkansas is back in action on Saturday, wrapping up the series with FGCU at 11 a.m. at Farris Field.
