Lady Razorback Softball Remains Undefeated

FAYETTEVILLE—The University of Arkansas softball team won three games in the second tournament of the fall season at Lady’Back Yard Sept. 26. The Lady Razorbacks are 6-0 after defeating Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 3-2, Texarkana College, 5-0, and Northeastern Oklahoma State, 6-1. In the second game of the day, the Lady’Backs handled Texarkana College when freshmen Katy Henry and Kelly Ninemire combined for a five hit, shutout. Henry allowed two hits in four innings, while the Arkansas bats recorded nine hits. Head coach Jamie Pinkerton said he liked the performance of the young Lady’Backs on the mound. “We had solid pitching from our freshmen pitchers,” he said. Junior Shana Easley, freshman Dayna Huckabee and senior Stephanie Hunter paced the Lady’Backs with two hits. In the second inning, Easley gave the Lady’Backs a 1-0 lead after a single down the leftfield line to score Huckabee. After senior Ashley Carter was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning, Huckabee followed with a leftfield line single. With two outs, freshman pinch hitter Samantha Buckner knocked a two-RBI double to score Carter and Huckabee. Senior Zenobia Davison, Hunter and junior Barbara-Jean Southmayd followed with singles to finish the four-run, five-hit inning. Ninemire entered the circle in the top of the fifth inning with a 5-0 lead and fanned three in three innings to seal the Lady’Back fifth victory of the fall season. In the last game of the evening, the Lady’Backs controlled Northeastern State. Junior Valanna Lyons recorded her first win of the fall after striking out eight and allowing three hits as she threw all seven innings. “Once again, Valanna pitched extremely well,” Pinkerton said. After five scoreless innings, the Lady’Backs relied on a six-run, seven-hit sixth inning to defeat Northeastern State. “In the sixth inning, everything clicked and we used everything in our arsenal,” Pinkerton said. Carter and Easley collected four of Arkansas’s eleven hits while five different Lady’Backs recorded RBIs. In game one, the Lady’Backs held off Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Sophomore Sarah Topham tallied her second win of the fall. The lefthander recorded a no-hitter in six innings with nine strikeouts. Pinkerton said he was pleased with Topham’s performance in the circle. Topham has not allowed a run in two starts. “I thought Sarah did a great job,” he said. “I was pleased with her once again.” In the bottom of the third inning, the Lady’Backs took advantage of NEO errors to take a 1-0 lead. Easley scored the Lady’Backs first run of the day after she reached on an error. Davison followed with a single, the first of her two hits to lead the Lady’Back offense. After a run in the fourth inning, Carter scored when Buckner’s single bounced off the leftfield wall to give Arkansas a 3-1 lead. Even though NEO scored a run in the top of the seventh inning on three hits, it wasn’t enough as the Lady’Backs narrowly escaped extra innings. Pinkerton said he wasn’t pleased with the team’s performance in the first game because it lacked the improvement he hoped for. ”We took two steps forward and a step back in game one,” he said. Pinkerton said he was happy with the Lady’Backs performance overall with the exception of the first game of the day against NEO. “We bounced back well in the last two games,” he said. “We got better today and need to continue to improve on fundamentals.” The Lady’Backs conclude the fall season Oct. 2 at Lady’Back yard when they host Carl Albert, Evangel and Southwest Missouri State. For more information on Arkansas softball, log on to www.ladybacks.com.

—LADY RAZORBACKS—