FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Missouri State softball ran into a hot-hitting Arkansas lineup that smacked six home runs in five innings to hand the Bears a 9-1 setback here Tuesday evening at Bogle Park.
The 10th-ranked Razorbacks (32-3), who are second in the nation in home runs, recorded seven of their nine runs courtesy of the long ball to induce the run-rule and take the non-conference bout.
The Bears (16-14) kept the game within striking distance through the first three-and-a-half innings as they scored a run in the top of the fourth to make it a two-run deficit before the hosts uncorked the rest of their home-run hitting capabilities with six runs in the final two frames.
After a scoreless first from MSU starter Madison Hunsaker (6-4), Arkansas opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with one of its five solo shots in the game. Hannah Gammill sailed a pitch over the center field wall, just over the glove of a leaping Skyler Shaw, and pushed the Razorbacks out to a 1-0 advantage.
In the third inning, Hunsaker retired the first two batters before the Razorbacks notched back-to-back hits with Danielle Gibson’s single producing a run.
Looking to keep the quick-striking Razorbacks offense off-balanced, head coach Holly Hesse utilized her pitching depth by going to both Gracie Johnston and Steffany Dickerson to try and get the final out of the third. Arkansas scratched another run across with a liner slipping past a diving Kelsie Lewis down the third-base line before Dickerson retired the threat.
The Bears were able to manufacture their run in the fourth with Daphne Plummer drawing a leadoff walk while Payton Minnis followed with a single back up the middle to breathe life into the MSU dugout.
Plummer came around to score after moving up to third on a Tess Weakly sac bunt and then racing home on an RBI groundout from Darian Frost.
The Razorbacks diminished the hopes of a Bears rally with another pair of home runs in the home half of the fourth before capping their outing with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, including Kayla Green’s game-ending two-run blast.
Facing pitcher Autumn Storms (5-0), the Bears were held to one hit in the shortened contest as the Razorbacks right-hander struck out seven in her five innings of work.
Missouri State returns to Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a series at Illinois State on April 10-11. The league battle kicks off with a Saturday doubleheader starting at 12 p.m., followed by a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m.
