UCA Defeats A&M-Corpus Christi in Longest Game of Southland Softball Tournament History
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FRISCO, Texas – Third-seeded Central Arkansas earned a 1-0, 13 inning win over sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday afternoon at the Lady Demon Diamond on the campus of Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. The 13-inning game was the longest softball game in Southland tournament history. With the win, the Bears advance to the second round to take on No. 2 seed McNeese State later today.
Central Arkansas (32-19, 16-8 Southland) relied on standout two-time all-conference senior starting pitcher Kylee Studioso in a pitching battle that featured a total of 25 strike outs between the two pitchers. Both Studioso and A&M-Corpus Christi starting pitcher Liz Carter, an all-conference honorable mention selection, tossed complete games in the three hour, 20 minute affair.
The Bears scored the game-winning run on a RBI by center fielder Amy Gunnells to right field that brought home shortstop Hayley Parker. UCA tallied a total of 12 hits in the win but left runners stranded in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
A&M-Corpus Christi recorded four hits in the game and had runners in scoring position only once in the 10th inning as outfielder Mickayla Cochran advanced to third on a pop-fly out by shortstop Jessica Mendez.
UCA’s Studioso opened up the game with two strikeouts on her way striking out a total of 15 batters on the day as the Islanders’ Carter struck out 10 batters. Studioso claimed the win and improved to 25-12 on the year. Carter fell to 14-17 on the season with the loss.
No. 3 UCA will now play second-seeded McNeese State (36-18, 21-5 Southland) later today from the Lady Demon Diamond. Last weekend, McNeese swept the Bears in the final Southland series of the regular season in Conway.
Sixth-seed A&M-Corpus Christi (20-27-1, 15-11 Southland) will now play at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning in the first game of back-draw play. The Islanders’ opponent will be against the loser of tonight’s game between No. 1 seed Northwestern State and the winner of No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana and No. 5 Lamar.
Tournament play continues this afternoon in Natchitoches with No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana taking on No. 5 seed Lamar at approximately 3 p.m.
The Southland title game is slated for a 2 p.m. start Friday with a possibility of second game for the tournament championship. The 11th game would be played in the event an undefeated team lost in the title game forcing a second game for the tournament championship, upholding the double elimination format. Game 11 start time is to be determined.
For more information on the tournament, including a link to
live stats, please visit
Southland.org. For updates and the most current information throughout the tournament please follow the Southland Conference on twitter at SouthlandSports and use the hashtag “SLCSoftball”.
The first nine games of the 2015 Southland Softball Tournament are being streamed live for free on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including
Southland.org/watch and the league’s mobile and tablet apps. The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, available via
WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Chris Mycoskie, Assistant Commissioner of Television and Electronic Media for the Southland Conference, will handle play-by play for all games. Three-time Southland softball coach of the year and National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame member Yvette Girouard will join him for the championship as the color analyst.
Quotes
Central Arkansas Head Coach David Kuhn
On overall thoughts of the game
“We kept battling and chipping away and Kylee threw great…Corpus Christi threw great today, so we were fortunate to string three hits together and come away with the win. Kylee is a phenomenal player and she's been the backbone of our team this entire season. It's a blessing to have a pitcher like that."
Central Arkansas Pitcher Kylee Studioso
On what you were thinking throughout the game
"As the game went on, I knew that we were going to pull through. I knew that if I just kept us in it then my teammates were going to have my back. Towards the end, we knew that we had more energy than Corpus Christi did, and we just kept going."
On thoughts about the next game against McNeese State
"We just fought through that, and they've just been sitting there waiting on us to finish; we've got this."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Head Coach Stephanie Hughes
On overall thoughts of the game
“Well we just played the longest game in Southland Conference tournament history. We’ve been fighting for the last five or six weeks and that didn’t stop and I’m really proud of them. Both pitchers I thought through extremely well and unfortunately they had one that dropped that we didn’t.”
On Liz Carter’s performance
“Gutsy, I don’t think there is any other way to describe it. She’s scarfing down granola bars in here, she’s trying to get in as much energy as possible and I think in the 11th and 12th inning she’s throwing just as hard as she was in the second. She’s the heartbeat of our team and for her to go out and give a performance like that and to see it in her eyes, it really killed her but we go as far as she’s going to take us.”