Razorbacks travel to Tulsa

FAYETTEVILLE– The University of Arkansas softball team will begin a five-game road trip when travels to Oklahoma Wednesday for a doubleheader against Tulsa at Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex. First pitch for the non-conference matchup is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Arkansas (21-11) moved into second place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division after a three-game sweep of its weekend series against Mississippi State. The Razorbacks picked up victories 7-2 and 11-6 to open the series on Saturday and used an 11-run, fifth-inning to come from behind and secure an 18-13 win on Sunday.

Razorback center fielder Jessica Bachkora continues to lead the team with a .412 batting average, 42 hits, 11 doubles, 12 home runs and a .873 slugging percentage. As a team this season, Arkansas is batting .260 with 40 home runs while the pitching staff boasts a 2.71 ERA with 182 strikeouts.

Tulsa comes into this week with an 18-13 overall record and a 4-2 record in Conference USA. The Golden Hurricane went 3-1 last week, picking up a midweek victory against No. 13 Oklahoma before taking two of a three in a weekend series against Memphis.

Arkansas leads the all-time series between the two teams 10-7 while Tulsa has a 3-1 advantage in games played in Tulsa. Last season, the teams split two games, Arkansas earning a 9-5 victory in Stillwater, Okla., during the regular season before Tulsa won 6-0 in the NCAA Regional in Norman.

Offensively, Tulsa is led by senior outfielder Lauren Lindsey. Lindsey has a team high .433 batting average, 29 runs, 42 hits, eight doubles, 14 home runs and 92 total bases. Through 31 games this season, she has a slugging percentage of .948. Next for the Golden Hurricane is freshman infielder Samantha Cobb with a .358 average. Cobb is also tied with Lindsey for the team lead with 32 RBIs.

In the circle, Tulsa has three pitchers each with at least 14 appearances. Senior right-hander Jackie Lawrence leads the team with 82.1 innings pitch. Lawrence has a record of 6-5 with an ERA of 3.49. Junior right-hander Jordan Kinard has a 5-5 record with a 3.78 ERA in 70.1 innings pitch. She leads the team with 79 strikeouts. Freshman left-hander Kalynn Schrock rounds out the pitching staff with a 2.79 ERA and a record of 7-3 in 15 appearances.

Tulsa is batting .281 as a team with 34 home runs while the pitching staff has an ERA of 3.39 with 230 strikeouts.

Wednesday’s games will be broadcast on KXUA Fayetteville (88.3 FM) and ArkansasRazorbacks.com, which will also carry live stats for the games against Tulsa.

Rankings are based on the USA Today/NFCA collegiate softball poll released Tuesday.

Download: 3-31 Tulsa.pdf