CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team hosts its final tournament of the spring this weekend, welcoming in a pair of teams to play in the Milisa Moore Tournament on Saturday and Sunday. With Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin coming to town, the Bears have a quality weekend of softball ahead of them, starting Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Central Arkansas named this tournament in honor of Milisa Moore, a Conway native and Central Arkansas alum who worked in the athletic department for 19 years. She battled breast cancer for 11 of those years before passing away in the spring of 2023. Milisa, a beloved member of the Central Arkansas Athletics family, was a fiercely loyal person who touched every life she encountered.
The Bears (6-13) have been better as the season has progressed, especially since games have been at home. After starting the year 2-8, Central Arkansas has recovered a bit at home, going 4-5 at home this season. The Bears have split both tournaments so far this year, going 2-2 in both weekends before dropping their first midweek this past Tuesday to Florida Atlantic.
While Central Arkansas figures some things out, a few players have been rock solid so far this season.
Kylie Griffin remains as poised as ever at the plate, batting .345 and leading the team in average, hits and runs.
Renee Christian has turned it on as of late, putting back-to-back multi-hit games last weekend. And the leadership of
Tremere Harris and
Morgan Nelson cannot be understated, both have been exceptional defensively. Harris has been a rock in centerfield, making some miraculous diving catches, and Nelson has been her usual self at first base, corralling everything thrown her way.
Louisiana heads to Conway with a 10-12 record, but already has a very impressive resume. The Ragin' Cajuns have been giant slayers this season, and have come very close to adding more to their list: the team already has Power Five wins over Cal and #22 Baylor, and of course, #1 Oklahoma. Playing the first tournament in the Sooners' new stadium, Louisiana went in and defeated Oklahoma 7-5 in eight innings this past Sunday, snapping the Sooners' 71-game winning streak.
After jumping out 3-0 on the Sooners and going to extras tied 4-4, Samantha Graeter gutted out an infield single to score a run, then three batters later, a first-pitch, two-out single through the left side scored two more runs. Oklahoma was only able to answer with a solo shot.
Mihyia Davis leads the team with a .391 average this season, leading the team with 27 hits and five stolen bases. Maddie Hayden also hits well for the Ragin' Cajuns, with a .382 average of her own. In the circle, Sam Landry holds a team-best 2.80 ERA, with a 4-5 record. The junior was an All-Sun Belt pitcher last season, and has 49 strikeouts through 13 appearances this season.
SFA comes to town with a 5-16 record, most recently dropping three games to Houston Christian and one to Lamar. The Lumberjacks have wins this season over Northwestern State (2x), Sam Houston, New Mexico and Minnesota. But the offense was unable to provide much this past weekend against the Huskies and Cardinals, as the Jacks were outscored 3-9 over four games.
Similar to the Bears, the Jacks have struggled at the plate early this season, hitting just .222 as a team. Madison Nguyen holds the team-high average at .304, recording 21 hits and 10 RBI. SFA is also not a particularly powerful hitting team, slugging just .279 and posting 19 extra base hits.
But the pitching corps has been doing work this season, holding a staff ERA of 3.31. Of their three pitchers with more than ten innings, two have a sub-3.00 ERA, and all three have more strikeouts than walks. Brooke Gainous has a team-low 2.63 ERA, Aydenne Brown holds batters to a team-low .205 batting average, and Alexis Telford has a team-high 33 Ks.
The tournament opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with the first game being a neutral game between Louisiana and SFA. Central Arkansas will play the next two games, and the schedule will repeat on Sunday starting at 11 a.m. Both Central Arkansas games on Sunday will be on ESPN+, and live stats will be available all weekend long.
