Strong Relief Pitching Leads to Wins in Florida

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Responding from its first loss of the season, the University of Arkansas softball team registered two wins Saturday afternoon at the FAU Invitational. The Razorbacks posted a 3-2 win over Connecticut in eight innings followed by a 4-2 triumph over Memphis. With Saturday’s results, Arkansas improves to 10-1 this season.

Game 1: Arkansas 3, Connecticut 2 (8 inn.) | Box Score

With the score tied at 2-all after seven, the Razorbacks played it first extra-innings game of the season. As the home team on the scoreboard, Arkansas was first up to defend the international tiebreaker rule which places a runner at second at the start of the inning. UConn had a runner on third after a sacrifice and tried to take the lead on a wild pitch but Shelby Hiers recovered quickly to flip the ball to Grace Moll covering at home who dropped the tag on the would-be scorer.

In similar fashion, Arkansas had a runner at third after Ashley Diaz led off the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice bunt to put pinch runner Haydi Bugarin just 60 feet from home. During the next at-bat, Huskies pitcher Katie Koshes let go of a wild pitch that rolled away from the catcher and allowed Bugarin to slide in safely for the game-winning run.

Earlier in the game, senior Stephanie Canfield collected her 200th career hit with an infield single. She became the seventh player in program history to reach the milestone. Diaz and Canfield drove in the Razorbacks’ first two runs with a double in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fourth, respectively. Moll pitched three innings of relief work and struck out four hitters on her way to picking up the win.

Game 2: Arkansas 4, Memphis 2 | Box Score

Arkansas was down 1-0 after the first inning but answered with four runs in the top half of the second, thanks in part to the two-run blast off the bat of sophomore transfer Katie Warrick. It was her fourth round tripper of the season. Diaz led off the inning with a single and scored on the home run. Later in the frame, the Razorbacks took advantage of two wild pitches that allowed Autumn Russell and Canfield to score.

Warrick also starred in the circle against Memphis, coming in to relieve Moll in the third inning. After recording two fielder’s choice outs to get out of the third, Warrick retired the next 12 she faced and didn’t allow a hit or a walk while striking out two Memphis hitters along the way. For her standout effort, she earned the first win of her Razorback career.

Up Next
In Sunday’s finale, the Razorbacks take on Florida A&M for a second time this weekend with first pitch scheduled for 8 a.m. (CT). Arkansas posted a 5-0 win over the Rattlers in Friday’s meeting. The team makes its home debut March 3-5 when it hosts IUPUI, Lamar and Nebraska for the Wooo Pig Classic at Bogle Park.

For more information about Arkansas softball, follow @RazorbackSB on Twitter.