UCA Defeats Lamar 7-0 to Reach Southland Championship
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FRISCO, Texas – Third-seeded Central Arkansas earned a spot in the Southland Conference Softball Tournament championship with a 7-0 victory over fifth-seeded Lamar Thursday evening at the Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches, La. The Bears advance to the championship round of the tournament for the first time in program history.
Central Arkansas (34-19, 16-8 Southland) got on the board early as first-team all-conference selection junior second baseman Sarah Bigej hit a double to right center in the top of the first, earning two RBI. Bigej advanced all the way to third off of the throw, while sophomore outfielder Briana Whisenhunt scored and all-conference junior third baseman Sam Forrest made it home for an unearned run.
The Bears tallied a total of three runs in the first, the third coming off a Hannah Stirton double to right that brought in Bigej.
In the top of the fourth, UCA got an unearned run from freshman designated player Audrey Pratt off an error by Lamar shortstop Stephanie Meeuwsen. The Bears then scored three runs in the fifth helped by a Jessie Taylor single in which she advanced to second on an error, allowing two of the three runs to be scored.
UCA allowed only four hits in the game behind two-time all-conference selection senior pitcher Kylee Studioso, who tossed her third complete game of the tournament. Studioso claimed her third win of the tournament, improving to 27-12 on the year. The Bears’ offense was led by Bigej who recorded two hits, two runs and two RBI.
Lamar all-conference freshman starting pitcher Laura Napoli took the loss, falling to 19-17 on the year. Napoli tossed for 4.2 innings before junior right-hander Lauren Dannelley came into the game in relief.
No. 3 UCA will face the winner of tomorrow morning’s back draw semifinals between the Lady Cardinals and the winner of tonight’s game in the Southland softball tournament championship, first pitch will take place at 2:05 p.m. CST in Natchitoches.
Fifth-seeded Lamar (26-26, 14-10 Southland) will now play in tomorrow morning’s back draw semifinal against the loser of tonight’s game between No. 1 seed Northwestern State and No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch is slated for 10:30 a.m. CST tomorrow from the Lady Demon Diamond
The Southland title game is slated for a 2 p.m. tomorrow 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.
The winner of the Southland softball tournament receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
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 the win...
"(Kylee Studioso) was tremendous. She pitched great. A shutout is so hard in this day of bats. The defense was tremendous and we were fortunate enough to jump on Lamar early. It was a great team win."
On its opponent in the conference championship...
"There are three great teams left. Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State are two of the best-hitting teams in the league and Lamar is as athletic as anybody. There were six great teams entering the tournament and now there are three tough teams left (which we could face). We will just have to see."