Photo – Aiden Pelphry

No. 12/11 Razorbacks pull away late from Lion Softball.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A six-run sixth inning by the No. 12/11 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday evening tamed the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team’s upset bid at Bogle Park as the Razorbacks took an 8-1 win to the mid-week clash. 

The Razorbacks, who have won the last two SEC championships, was ranked No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll and No. 11 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25. 

“I am really proud of our pitching and defense today,” said coach Brittany Miller. “They went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country for the first five innings. Hopefully, we can build on this performance when we return home as we make a push to reach the conference tournament.”  

Both teams went down in order in the first inning. Arkansas capitalized on a Lion fielding error in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Rylin Hedgecock reached on an error and came around to score on a one-out double to left center by Hannah Gammill. 

The first 13 batters for the Lions went down in order until Ayanna Williams (Round Rock – Cedar Ridge) got on base with an infield double. The wind caught a pop-up to third, blowing to the outfield, allowing Williams to reach second. 

Tatum Wright (Frisco – Centennial) came in as a pinch hitter with two outs in the fifth and drilled an RBI single to left center to bring home, Williams. Elizabeth Guerrero (International School of Americas) came in next as a pinch hitter and hit a fly ball caught by Arkansas’ center fielder mere inches from the fence. 

Kacie Hoffman singled up the middle in the bottom of the fifth with one out. After a fly-out, Raigan Kramer tripled to center and brought home Hoffman. 

Hedgecock led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to the left. Then, Lauren Camenzind singled through the right side, and Gammill reached on a fielding error by the Lions. After a pitching change, the Lions got two consecutive outs. Then, a pitch hit Rijo and loaded the bases. 

After Kramer drew a walk to load the bases again, Reagan Johnson hit a two-run single. Then, Cylie Halvorson cleared the bases with a triple down the right-field line, representing the run-rule-clinching run. After back-to-back walks to load the bases and a Lion pitching change, Gammill popped up to first to end the inning. 

The Lions went down in order in the seventh. A&M-Commerce had three hits in the game, with one each from Williams and Wright, while Emmie Miehe (Cameron Park, Calif.) came in as a pinch hitter in the sixth and recorded a base hit. 

Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) pitched five innings, charged with two earned runs, and took the loss. She recorded five strikeouts, including four through the first two innings. Anissa Arredondo (San Antonio – Warren) recorded two outs in the sixth, and Madeline Janssen (Earlham, Iowa) recorded the final out of the sixth. 

For the Razorbacks, Johnson went 2-for-4, and Camenzind went 2-for-3. Robyn Herron recorded ten strikeouts in her 5.2-inning start. She allowed three hits and one earned run. Chenise Delce came in for the save. She punched out three in 1.1 innings. 

UP NEXT

The Lions return to Commerce to UIW this weekend for a doubleheader on Friday at 5:00 pm and the series finale on Saturday at Noon.

Photo – Vashaun Newman – UIW Athletics

Stranda enters the final round of the SLC Championships in third.

 

SAN ANTONIO – On Tuesday at the Hill Country Resort Golf Club, Henriette Stranda continued her strong performance at the Southland Conference Championships for the Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s golf team. 

Stranda (Kraakstad, Norway) enters the tournament’s final round in third place and has shot a 75 in both matches this week for a total score of 150. However, she sits six strokes behind the leader, Alex Giles of UIW, who holds a three-shot lead going into the tournament’s final round. 

The Lions hold a team score of 641, which puts them in fifth place. A&M-Commerce is seven strokes ahead of Lamar and 15 strokes back of A&M-Corpus Christi for fourth. 

Jordan Dusckas (Flower Mound Marcus) improved her score by six strokes on Tuesday, shooting a 77. However, her total score of 160 tied for 19th. Benz Far-Arun (Bangkok, Thailand) is in 25th place after shooting an 83 on Tuesday with a total score of 165. A stroke behind her with a total score of 166 is Marie Naeher (Neuenbuerg, Germany), who shot an 81 in the third, while Carly Whittington (Kinder, La.) came in as a substitute and shot an 86 on Tuesday. 

The Lions are in the second group for the final round with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

Michelle Becker (San Antonio – Reagan) is back in the lineup and tees off at 8:50 am. Naeher tees off at 9:00 am, followed by Far-Arun at 9:10 am, Ducskas at 9:20 am, and Stranda at 8:40 am. You can find live scoring HERE.