FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Central Arkansas softball team took an early lead over the No. 8/9 Arkansas Razorbacks, but couldn't find a way to keep it close as the nationally ranked Razorbacks pulled away in the later innings of the game.
The Bears (19-11) capitalized on some early miscues by Arkansas, but struggled to keep pace with the SEC foe once the home team got its footing.
Renee Christian notched another pair of hits, extending her hitting streak to 17 games.
Christian started the game with a single that looped over the infield into shallow left, and steadily moved around the bases. A groundout moved her to second, and a passed ball allowed her to scoot over to third, making it 60 feet from home with only one out.
Trinity Brandon walked, and another groundout allowed Christian to sprint home, putting Central Arkansas ahead by one.
Kaitlyn Graham walked, and a passed ball moved her and Brandon forward another base, putting Brandon on third.
LJ Smith took four-straight pitches outside of the strike zone to load the bases, and
Grace Molitor reached on an error, moving all the runners forward to inch the lead up to two runs.
Arkansas got one back in the home half of the first, despite the Bears logging a double play in the frame.
Addie Graham smacked a double in the second, but with two outs already, she was stranded in scoring position. The Bears recorded another double play in the second inning, as Smith linked up with Molitor, who zipped it over to Graham at first.
Everything changed in the third. After the Bears went three up, three down, the Hogs went to work. Arkansas scored six runs to flip the script, taking advantage of a couple of Bear errors to turn the tide of the game. From there, Arkansas added three more in the fourth to go up by eight, and the Bears couldn't match any of the scoring in the fifth.
Lucy Crowder got the start in the circle, allowing just two hits and one earned run after going through the entire lineup. Offensively, the Bears did a good job making contact and forcing the Razorback defense to make plays, striking out only twice in the game while also getting the three walks in the first inning.
Central Arkansas remains on the road this weekend, heading to Nashville to take on Lipscomb in a three-game ASUN series. Games against the Bisons will be played on Saturday and Sunday.
