Lady'Backs fall to No. 22 South Florida 2-1

November 7, 2014

The University of Arkansas softball team fell to No. 22 South Florida, 2-1, in its second game of the day at the University of South Florida-Best Western Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

Arkansas came out of pool play 1-2 to take on No. 1 seed South Florida in the afternoon game. USF’s only loss in pool play was against the Lady Razorbacks yesterday.

The game got off to a slow start and was scoreless through three innings when in the top of the fourth, two back-to-back hits by Lady’Back freshmen put Arkansas on the board, 1-0.

Miranda Dixon doubled to right center and was then driven in by freshman Jessica Bachkora who singled up the middle.

Bachkora was 3-for-3 against South Florida and has hit .727 with eight hits for the tournament. Dixon was 2-for-3.

Junior Dayna Huckabee sparked a three-hit sixth inning, but the Lady’Backs were held scoreless by the Bulls.

“Defensively I think we played well enough to win,” said head coach Jamie Pinkerton. “This is a young team and I’m very glad freshman have been stepping up, but we’ve got to have other players step up too, especially with runners in key positions.”

South Florida’s Danielle Urbanik evened the score, 1-1 with an RBI double scoring Tara Toscano from first base in the bottom of the sixth inning. Urbanik hit a grand slam home run against the Lady’Backs and a game-winning solo home run against Western Kentucky yesterday.

With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, USF’s Alison Savarese hit a walk off home run to win the game.

Dixon went five and one-third innings on the mound, allowing just three hits and striking out five. Henry pitched two-thirds of an inning and picked up the loss for Arkansas.

“Miranda did an outstanding job in both games today,” said Pinkerton. “I’ll take the blame for Urbanik’s double.”

The Lady’Backs compete for the consolation final tomorrow at 10 a.m. against the winner of this evening’s Virginia/Western Kentucky game.

For more information about Arkansas softball, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.