Central Arkansas Advances With 7-4 Win Over Northwestern State
Southland Conference
Box Score
CONWAY, Ark. – Tournament host Central Arkansas advanced in the 2017 Southland Conference Softball Tournament with a 7-4 victory over Northwestern State on Friday at Farris Field in Conway, Ark.
UCA scored three early runs off of five walks and a sacrifice fly in just 16 minutes of play before weather delayed the contest for six hours. The Bears were up 3-0 with no hits and two outs in the top of the first.
With runners on the corners, the Bears resumed play as third baseman Audrey Pratt sent a ball to the shortstop Hailee Rhodes, scoring catcher Lauren Brooks and reaching on the error. UCA took the 4-0 lead heading into the bottom frame of the first still without a hit.
Catcher Emma Hawthorne singled down the leftfield line to begin the bottom of the third inning for NSU. She stole second before right fielder Hayley Barbazon singled to centerfield, and centerfielder Sidney Salmans grounded out to second base to score Hawthorne and cut the deficit to 4-1.
Barbazon added a run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single up the middle to get within two runs.
The Bears tacked onto their lead in the fifth inning before plating two in the seventh to give the host team a five-run lead approaching the bottom frame. Salmans doubled to left centerfield with shortstop Hailee Rhodes hitting a single to the shortstop. NSU put the pair on the board to bring the score to 7-4 and got the bases loaded, but the late rally would not be enough to send the No. 6 team to the next round.
UCA will now face Nicholls with an 8:15 start Friday. The winner of that game will advance to the championship against the top-seeded McNeese Cowgirls.
Games 1-9 will be streamed live on the Southland Digital Network with Chris Mycoskie, Steve Owens and Chris Kane sharing play-by-play duties. The games will be available via
southland.org/live and the
Southland Conference app. In addition to the mobile app, the app is now available for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku.
The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, which can be viewed via
WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app with Mycoskie and former Southeastern Louisiana pitcher Kati Morse on the call.