Arkansas softball hosts Border War
FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas softball team hosts the Border War, welcoming Oklahoma State and Tulsa to Lady’Back Yard on Wednesday afternoon. Oklahoma State and Tulsa play at 3 p.m. followed by the Lady Razorbacks and Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. and Arkansas and Tulsa at 7 p.m.
“It’s good to step out of conference play,” said head coach Jamie Pinkerton. “We’ll be able to work on some things that came up in the Tennessee series. It’s going to be a couple of good contests.”
The Lady’Backs (22-13, 2-9 SEC) enter Wednesday’s contests after taking a game from then No. 8 Tennessee over the weekend. Senior Samantha Buckner hit a grand slam home run to lift Arkansas to a 5-2 come-from-behind victory against the Lady Vols. That win marked the highest ranked opponent it has defeated at Lady’Back Yard and marks the first time Arkansas defeated UT since April 3, 2004 when Tennesse was ranked 12th. The Lady’Backs also scored more runs then they had in the last nine contests against the Lady Vols.
Oklahoma State (14-16, 0-2 Big 12) is on a four-game losing streak after dropping its first two Big 12 games against Missouri. Arkansas and OSU faced each other the first weekend of the 2008 season in Texarkana, Ark. The Lady’Backs came out on top of both contests 4-3 and 3-2 in nine innings. Arkansas holds the 4-3 advantage in the all-time series.
Tulsa (17-14, 5-4 C-USA) was swept this past weekend by Central Florida, but could prove a tough opponent as it upset No. 9 Oklahoma earlier in the year. The Golden Hurricane is led by Lauren Lindsay who tallies 40 hits, 15 doubles, seven home runs, 25 runs and 27 RBI. Arkansas leads the series 8-5 against Tulsa.
Last year’s Border War was rained out in Stillwater, Okla.
“I’ve really been happy with the way the ladies have been playing,” said Pinkerton. “We’re 20-4 in our non-conference schedule and one loss is to No. 1 Arizona State. The program has made strides and we’re beating the teams we’re supposed to. Now we have to learn how to win the tight games.”
Live stats and live audio are available for Wednesday’s Arkansas games on LADYBACKS.COM.
For more information and tickets please call the Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK or log on to LADYBACKS.COM.
