TROY, Ala. – The Central Arkansas softball team got back on track with a pair of comfortable wins on Saturday, dominating both IU Indy and Radford to close out the Cardinal Classic.
Game One: Central Arkansas – 11, IU Indy – 1
The Bears came out needing to get the bats going after yesterday's games, and boy did they. It took just two plate appearances for Central Arkansas to tally the first run of the game.
Addie Graham hit a single to left field, then made it to third on a stolen base and an error on the throwdown.
Trinity Brandon sent her teammate home with a smack to center field, and just like that, the Bears were up. The Bears added another in the second inning, with
Grace Molitor hitting a sacrifice fly to score
Lilly Hood, creating a touch of separation after two innings.
Central Arkansas blew the doors off in the third, getting the monster inning this lineup is capable of putting together.
Emma Robertson opened the frame getting hit by a pitch with one out.
Renee Christian came in to pinch run, and she moved to third on a single by Kaitlin Graham. Graham stole second, and
LJ Smith singled to score Christian, allowing Graham to move to third.
Gracie St. Hilaire walked to load the bases, and
Sydney Kildow came in to pinch run. Hood added another RBI with a single to shallow right field, and two pitching miscues scored a run on consecutive plate appearances to stretch the lead.
Addie Graham punched an infield hit to add one more, and with two outs, Robertson added one final run another infield single of her own.
IU Indy scraped across one run in the fourth, but a double play got the Bears out of trouble and back to the plate with a chance to keep the momentum going.
Grace Molitor did just that, smashing a triple to right center with
Autumn Vessier on first base. A throwing error on the next at bat let Molitor score, and the Bears were up past the magic number for the run rule. IU Indy couldn't score in the fifth, giving Central Arkansas its first win of the day.
Jaleigh White picked up her second win in the circle, tossing 4.1 innings and striking out five while allowing only three hits.
Game Two: Central Arkansas – 9, Radford – 2
The Bears didn't start game two with the momentum from game one, and Radford threatened early to get the weekend sweep over Central Arkansas. The Highlanders scored in each of the first two innings, while the Central Arkansas lineup struggled to answer.
Central Arkansas finally scratched a run across in the third inning, with
Lilly Hood opening the frame with a walk and the lineup behind her moving her around the diamond for the score.
Addie Graham hit a sacrifice fly to finish off the score.
After a couple more scoreless innings, the Bears made their move. The sixth inning started with five-straight hits, including a
Kaitlyn Graham double, marching Bears to and around the bases, and suddenly, the score went from 2-1 bad guys to 5-2 good guys before the Highlanders could record an out. After a pitching change, Radford got out of the tight spot, but failed to answer in the home half of the inning.
Central Arkansas wasn't done, though. With the bottom of the order starting off the seventh,
Grace Molitor smashed a double to left center to get a Bear in scoring position quickly. Two batters later,
Trinity Brandon doubled to send her teammate home and replace her in scoring position. A wild pitch moved her to third, and Graham singled up the middle to add to the lead.
LJ Smith got in on the fun with a triple down the right field line, and she scored on a wild pitch on the next at bat. In a matter of two innings, the Bears went from dreading a third loss in four games trailing 2-1, to complete exuberance and a Saturday sweep, turning the game around with eight runs in the final two innings.
With rain on the horizon in Alabama, Troy has made the decision to cancel the final day of the Cardinal Clash. So, up next for the Bears is their home opener on Wednesday against Northern Iowa. First pitch at Natalie Shock Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
