O'Malley and Huckabee Pace Lady'Backs at Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – Senior outfielder Mindy O’Malley and sophomore infielder Dayna Huckabee combined for seven hits in the Border War, Wednesday, March 29, in Tulsa, Okla. The Lady Razorbacks (16-18) fell to Oklahoma State, 8-1, and Tulsa, 7-4.

In the first game, Oklahoma State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on one hit. The Cowgirls extended their lead, 2-0, in the top of the fifth when sophomore infielder Kim Kaye began the inning with a solo home run.

The Lady’Backs answered in the bottom of the inning as Huckabee leadoff with a home run to cut into the lead, 2-1. The home run was Huckabee’s second of the season.

Oklahoma State scored a run in the sixth and five runs in the seventh. For Arkansas, O’Malley was 3-for-4 at the plate while freshman pinch hitter Brandy Baze recorded her first career hit.

Arkansas softball head coach Jamie Pinkerton said he was disappointed in the Lady’Backs performance as all three areas of the game struggled.

“I don’t think we showed up,” he said. “I thought we’d come over here and play two quality teams that would help us down the road in SEC games. We didn’t look good. We didn’t look solid. We didn’t execute.”

Junior Kayce Odle (2-5) took the loss as she had five strikeouts in five innings of work. Senior Blaire Perry threw two innings of relief.

Tulsa took an early 2-0 lead in the second game. The Golden Hurricane used three hits and a walk to score in the bottom of the first inning.

Trailing 4-0, the Lady’Backs scored two runs in the top of the fifth with three hits and one Tulsa error. Huckabee and freshman outfielder Jocelyne Moncrief started the inning with a double and single, respectively. The pair scored when senior designated player Shana Easley recorded her first hit of the game.

After the Golden Hurricane added a run in the fifth, the Lady’Backs responded with two runs to close the gap, 5-4. Perry highlighted the inning with a double.

In the circle, sophomore Katy Henry (9-7) recorded the loss while tallying eight strikeouts in a complete game. Offensively, Huckabee was 2-for-3.

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