Central Arkansas Crushes Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kuhn Wins 400th Career Game
Central Arkansas 8, Arkansas-Pine
Bluff 0 (5 innings)
Central Arkansas 18, Arkansas-Pine
Bluff 0 (5 innings)
PINE
BLUFF, Ark. - Central Arkansas swept
Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a record-setting double-header on Tuesday afternoon. The Bears (9-12) downed
the Lady Lions (0-10) 8-0 in five innings in the opener, then won 18-0 with a
school record 23 hits and 31 total bases in game two. UCA pitching allowed just
one hit in each game.
The
wins puts head coach David Kuhn over the 400-career victory mark. He now has a
record of 401-265 in 12 seasons of coaching.
Freshman
center fielder Candice Gauntt led the first game off with a base hit and stole
second. She scored on single up the middle from sophomore first baseman Kasey
Britt. After a Shayleen Ristau hit, freshman catcher Melanie Bryant hit a home
run over the fence in left center field to give the Bears a 4-0 lead.
UCA
added three runs in the second on after Britt led off with a walk and scored on
a Ristau triple. Bryant followed with a double that plated Ristau. Bryant
scored later in the inning from third after a UAPB error, giving the Bears a
7-0 lead. Ristau reached on a base hit in the top of the fourth and scored on a
single by senior shortstop Rachel Baucom, pushing the lead to 8-0.
Bryant
went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and eight total bases. Ristau was 3-for-3 with
three runs scored. CeCe Kolesar had UAPB's only hit.
Bear
freshman Bradie Baker (1-0) threw one-hit shutout, walking three and striking
out seven. Kolesar (0-6) gave up 11 hits, seven earned runs, two walks and
struck out two.
Britt
got things started in the nightcap with a three-run homer , her
team-leading fourth of the year, in the
top of the first, scoring Gauntt and freshman Melissa Bryant. Britt added a
two-run double in the second, scoring Lindsey Barsoum and Gauntt. Ristau and
Baucom also added RBI-hits in the frame, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead.
In
the third, Barsoum reached on a base hit and scored on a Bryant hit to right
field. Britt followed with her second home run of the day, putting UCA up 10-0.
Melanie Bryant singled and later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Bears an 11-0
advantage after the third inning.
UCA
added seven runs in the top of the fourth, including a grand slam by Ristau.
Britt
was 3-for-3 with a school record seven runs batted in. Ristau went 3-for-4 with
five RBI. Barsoum and Paige Burke added three hits each. Gauntt tied the school
record with four runs scored. Misti Cosby had UAPB's only hit of the game.
Keslie
Armstrong (7-6), Kelley Martino and Kristen Johnson combined for the one-hit
shutout with eight strikeouts. Heather Leigh (0-4) allowed 13 hits, 10 earned
runs and walked four in 3.2 innings.
UCA
will go to UT Arlington this weekend for a three-game Southland Conference
series beginning on Saturday.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, No. 19/23 Texas A&M 3
No. 19/23 Texas A&M 8, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0 (5
innings)
COLLEGE
STATION, Texas - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi picked up a big non-conference
win on Tuesday night, downing the No. 19/23 Texas A&M Aggies 4-3 in the
first game of a doubleheader. The Islanders lost an 8-0 in the nightcap.
The Islanders move to 16-7 on the season while the Aggies
are now 17-6 on the year.
Margo Hurdt came on in relief in the fifth inning of game
one to pick up her second win of the season and move to 2-1 on the year.
Elena Crabtree started the game but did not finish it for the first time all
season, going a total of six innings and giving up just three runs on eight
hits.
"We played really relaxed, had solid defense and put
pressure on them," said head coach Jake Schumann. "Brittney had a big
day at the plate for us."
The Islanders took the early lead, getting an unearned run
when Hannah Schwarz reached on an error, allowing Hurdt to score from third for
the early 1-0 lead. TAMUCC added to the lead in the fourth, scoring
another run on a Brittany Tucker lead-off home run to make it 2-0 Islanders.
Texas A&M evened the score in the bottom half of the
fourth when the Aggies hit a two-run home run to knot it at 2-2 heading into
the final three innings.
A&M-Corpus Christi regained the lead in the top of the
sixth, scoring another pair of runs started off by a Meagan McKinney
double. Kacie Smith moved McKinney to third on a sacrifice bunt and
Tucker brought her home on a single to left field and advanced to second on a
fielding error by the left fielder. Kyrie Panter came in to
pinch run for Tucker and advanced to third when Hurdt reached on an error by
the third baseman. Lauren Sanders singled up the middle to bring Panter
home and make it 4-2 in favor of the Islanders.
The Aggies threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning
but could only get one with the bases loaded as the Islanders picked up its
first win of the year over a ranked opponent.
"Our table setters set the table and everyone did their
jobs," said Schumann. "It's always a feather in your cap anytime you
can beat top 25 team."
In the second game, Addie Tallman was unable to keep the
Aggie batters down, going just two innings, giving up six earned runs on seven
hits. Hurdt came on in relief and did a better job, giving up just two
runs, one earned, on four hits in two innings while walking three.
"I didn't like our approach in game two, we made
wholesale changes and had a lot of people play, but it seemed like we didn't
have that fight."
A&M-Corpus Christi returns to Southland Conference play
this weekend against Nicholls at Chapman Field. The teams will play a
doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and then a single game on Sunday
with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Tucker finished with two RBI on two hits in the first game
while Caley Jeter went 2-for-2 in the second game to lead the Islanders
effort. Sanders had the other RBI in game one for the Islanders.
Live stats and video will be available by visiting www.GoIslanders.com.
Northwestern State 4, Grambling State 1
Northwestern State 11, Grambling State 0 (5 innings)
NATCHITOCHES, La. -
Brooke Boening, Kelee Grimes and Jessica English combined to pitch the 10th
no-hitter in Northwestern State softball history as the Lady Demons rolled to a
4-1, 11-0 doubleheader sweep of Grambling Tuesday night to snap its six-game
losing streak.
Northwestern improves to 10-8 on the season after Boening tossed a
perfect two innings for her fourth win of the season, striking out three
batters. Kelee Grimes threw two innings with one walk and six strikeouts
against Grambling (2-9) before Jessica English pitched the final inning in
relief, fanning three batters and walking two.
"Our pitchers have great potential," second-year head coach Donald
Pickett said. "They are just lacking consistency. When they get that, they'll
be special. The more the season progresses, hopefully they will get more confident
and consistent."
Northwestern exploded for seven first-inning runs on Grambling in game
two and added four more in the fourth. All seven runs came with two outs for
the Lady Demons as Kayla Cole knocked in her 15th run to start the scoring.
Ashlee England and Tiffany Ward singled and walked to load the bases for
Ashleigh Kuhn, who pounded a bases-clearing double to left-centerfield to give
NSU a 4-0 lead.
Ainsley Pellerin joined the action with a single to score Kuhn, while
Taylor McLoughlin reached on an error to drive in another run for Northwestern.
Samantha Roberts, who hit her fourth homer of the season in game one, walked in
her second appearance of the long inning to finish the scoring in the first
frame.
"It was a total team effort with good pitching, good defensive, good
offense," Pickett said. "We have struggled with total team efforts. That second
game we put it all together."
The Lady Demons rallied for four more runs in the bottom of the fourth
as Stormi Stech, 2-for-3 with two runs, and Randi Stuard, 2-for-4, each singled
to drive in runs before Roberts drove in two more with a single to the left
side. Roberts knocked in five runs on the day to give her a team-high 20 RBI.
Grambling's Brandi Payne (1-5) suffered the loss for the Tigers, tossing
all four innings. She gave up 11 runs on 11 hits and walked six Lady Demons.
Freshman pitcher Kylie Roos (6-4) got the start in the first contest and
threw a complete game in the 4-1 win, giving up no earned runs. She struck out
11 batters and gave up just one base on balls, allowing five hits.
Samantha Roberts put Northwestern on the scoreboard in the first by
reaching on an error to score Stuard, who singled to right-centerfield to lead
off the game. Stuard then knocked in Northwestern s second run in the bottom of
the second after grounding out to the shortstop to score Leslie Johnson.
Johnson walked and advanced to third after Stormi Stech doubled to left-center.
Roberts hit her fourth round-tripper in the fifth inning to put Northwestern
on top 3-0. Grambling scored its only run of the day as Latrice Wood, 2-for-3,
knocked in Terel Jones in the top of the fifth.
Northwestern answered in the bottom of the sixth when Randi Stuard
doubled to knock in Ashlee England, who doubled off the wall to start the
inning.
Patrice Bailey (1-4) threw a complete game for Grambling as Northwestern
knocked around 11 hits. All four runs were earned for Bailey, who struck out
just one batter.
The Lady Demons return to action Wednesday night with a 6 p.m. contest
against Centenary on the road to start a six-game road trip. Northwestern
continues conference play this weekend with a three-game set at Stephen F.
Austin starting Saturday at 1 p.m.
The next home game for the Lady Demons will be its conference home
opener as they host Sam Houston State March 20th.
No. 22 Baylor 8, UTSA 1
SAN
ANTONIO - Sophomore Ashley Kappler (Lake Jackson, Texas/Brazoswood HS) hit her
first home run of the season, but Megan Turk went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to
lead No. 22 Baylor to an 8-1 victory against UTSA on Tuesday evening at
Roadrunner Field.
The Lady Bears plated six runs in the top of the seventh to break open a tight
game and run their record to 16-6 on the season.
Kappler's home run, a line drive shot over the center field fence in the bottom
of the sixth, pulled the Roadrunners (7-14) to within 2-1.
The Lady Bears struck first on Turk's RBI single up the middle of the infield
in the top of the second that plated Nicole Wesley, who walked, stole second
and advanced to third on an error.
Baylor tacked on a run in the fifth. KJ Freelan singled, stole second, moved to
third on a base hit by Tiffany Wesley and scored on a ground ball off the bat of
Kayce Walker.
Kappler's long ball cut the deficit in half before Baylor struck for six in the
top of the seventh, highlighted by a two-run single up the middle by Dani Leal.
Courtney Repka picked up the win to improve to 9-3, scattering four hits in the
complete game.
Sophomore Caitlyn Ivy extended her hitting streak to seven games with a base
knock in the fourth, while senior Kelly Cato and sophomore Laura Little had a
hit apiece for UTSA.
Junior Emily Humpal (4-5) struck out six but allowed five earned runs (eight
total) on 11 hits in 6.1 innings in the loss.
The Roadrunners travel to Huntsville this weekend for a three-game Southland
Conference series against Sam Houston State.
Prairie View A&M at UT
Arlington (DH - Cancelled)