Central Arkansas Wins First Southland Softball Title
Southland Conference
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NATCHITOCHES, La. – No. 3 seed Central Arkansas swept through the Southland Conference Softball Tournament and won its first-ever softball title with a 4-2 win over No. 1 seed Northwestern State. The Bears claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will await its postseason fate Sunday, May 10 at 9 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
Both pitching staffs struggled to find their groove early with five combined runs scoring in the first inning. UCA pitcher Kylee Studioso walked her first four batters of the contest and then surrendered a run on a sacrifice fly before escaping the top half of the first. The Bears responded in the bottom half of the inning with three straight hits to open the game with a double from Sam Forrest followed by an RBI single from Briana Whisenhunt then an RBI double from Sarah Bigej. Audrey Pratt would send Bigej home for the third Bears’ run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
Northwestern State threatened to tie the game 3-3 in the fourth inning, but Central Arkansas centerfielder Amy Gunnells threw out Micayla Sorosiak at home after the Lady Demon second baseman tried to score from second on a Hailee Rhodes single. The Lady Demons would put runners in scoring position a couple more times but could not push another run across the board.
Sophomore pitcher Kayla Gomness entered the game in the third inning for the Bears and pitched five innings of scoreless relief, giving up six hits while striking out. Gomness picked up with win for UCA to improve to 4-1 on the year. Offensively, the Bears were led by Forrest and Bigej, both of whom recorded two hits.
The Lady Demons were able to keep the Bears off the scoreboard until the fifth inning when Gunnells drew a bases loaded walk, giving UCA a 4-2 lead.
Central Arkansas led all teams with five members selected to the all-tournament team, headlined by tournament most valuable player Studioso, who went 29.0 inning, striking out 20 batters while only giving up two earned runs. Also earning all-tournament for the Bears are Sarah Bigej, Sam Forrest, Jessie Taylor and Brianna Whisenhunt. Northwestern State had three all-tournament selections with Brittney Jones, Micayla Sorosiak and Kellye Kincannon while Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana each had two members to the team. Sarah Ragsdale and Laura Napoli represented the Lady Cardinals while Katie Lacour and Spencer Adkinson were the Lady Lions on the squad.
Quotes
Central Arkansas Head Coach David Kuhn
On overall thoughts about the game...
"All week the girls were focused, and had great rounds of practice. I was a bit worried when we were down, but we answered with a bang, which was huge because it took the pressure off of us."
"All year long we've had a great pitching staff. Kylee's thrown most of the innings, but Kayla and Shivaun Landeros have done a great job for us in game two. Kayla's been phenomenal in all of her appearances this year, with great speed and control, and she's developed so much."
Central Arkansas Pitcher Kayla Gomness
On pitching in the game...
"That's been my job all season. My defense played behind me like they always do, so it was a great game. It feels amazing, because this is a great group of girls and we always pull for each other."
Northwestern State Head Coach Donald Pickett
On winning two straight games...
“I think it shows a ton of character. For us to dig the whole as deep as we dug and be able to get back to the championship game at the end, we kept fighting the whole time. I’m proud of our kids. They should be proud of what they’ve done here.”
On senior class...
“Those kids are great on and off the field. They always did everything you asked them to do and they did it with a good attitutude. They were committed to the process that we have. They were very good representatives to our program and school and were great examples for our younger kids.”
On younger players growth...
“I think over the last couple days they’ve grown up so much. That first game I think we came out kind of jittery and inexperience got us. I’m real proud of them. Hopefully we’ll keep being competitive in conference and putting ourselves in these situations like today.”