OXFORD, Ala. – Game one of the ASUN Championship did not go the way the Bears wanted it to, as the Central Arkansas softball team slipped up late in the opening game against FGCU.
The 5-3 finish saw the Bears have a rough day defensively, uncharacteristic of a team that finished first in the ASUN in fielding percentage.
Central Arkansas was excellent defensively to start the game, handling the speed of the FGCU batters and keeping everything in front. Both sides struggled early offensively, as both offenses found it difficult to get anything to sneak out of the infield.
The Bears finally struck in the third inning; playing on Choccolocco Park's 225-foot field,
Addie Graham smoked one into the gap in right center, and it rolled all 225-feet to the wall. The speedy freshman made it pretty easily to third base, logging the first triple allowed by FGCU pitcher Allison Sparkman.
Madi Young followed the triple up with a single, but it was enough to score Graham for the first run of the day.
The fourth inning also prove to be a good offensive inning for the Bears.
Lilly Hood started off with a double that would have been a home run in any of the 12 ASUN ballparks, punching it all the way to the top of the wall in centerfield. Then, with two outs,
Autumn Vessier walked, and both runners moved to scoring position on a wild pitch.
LJ Smith walked to load the bases, and
Kylie Griffin walked to score a run. Graham followed it up with a single to right field, scoring one more run to increase the lead to three.
Things started to unravel in the fifth inning for Central Arkansas. With two runners on, a sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position. A sharp hit to the infield was then misplayed on a throw to home, and as the ball bounced around the backstop, two runs were able to score. The misfortune continued in the seventh, with another misplay at home allowing two more runs to score. An RBI triple later, and the Bears trailed 5-3. With a chance left in the bottom of the seventh, Central Arkansas couldn't get through.
Central Arkansas now heads to the bottom of the bracket for the remainder of the tournament. The Bears will await the results of a few games to determine their next opponent, and will face elimination at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
