Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano says Tulsa could not keep up its momentum in the end.
The University of Tulsa’s softball team had a crushing defeat against Central Arkansas last Wednesday. The Sugar Bears held a dominating lead and forced Tulsa into a corner from the very beginning. Despite a significant effort to make a comeback, the Golden Hurricane fell against Central Arkansas 11-6.
Central Arkansas was merciless in the first inning, the Sugar Bears starting the game with a 0-5 lead. The rally was started by a one-out triple, followed by a walk and an infield single to load all of the bases. A two-run single up the middle brough its first points to start the game off with a 0-2 lead. This was not the end of its scoring efforts, a groundout bringing another run to Central Arkansas’ score. The Sugar Bears scored a single and a second triple to end the inning. After this crushing inning, Tulsa pulled starting pitcher Maura Moore.
The Golden Hurricane failed to make it on the board in the bottom of the first, paving another scoring opportunity for Central Arkansas. The Sugar Bears continued to extend its lead in the second inning, the stage set by a leadoff single. Mya January would hit a two-run homer to the left field and extend Central Arkansas’ lead 0-7. After witnessing so much action from Central Arkansas, the stands grew a little dull as no runs were completed by either team in the third inning. This would continue for UCA.
The Sugar Bears would continue to stay silent in the fourth inning while the Golden Hurricane would finally put itself onto the board. Amber Turner would make it on base after being hit by a pitch. A walk and wild pitch put the Golden Hurricane runners into scoring position. Whitney Holcomb sealed the deal and hit a sacrifice fly to center, bringing in Turner. This series of effort put the game 1-7, the Golden Hurricane still having a lot of work to do to close the gap.
Tulsa continued to keep Central Arkansas at bay in the fifth, some significant plays closing the gap to put the Golden Hurricane within two. Faith Russel singled and Maci Cole would follow up with a double to put both of them in scoring positions. A wild pitch allows Russel to round out to home plate. With Tulsa gaining momentum, Central Arkansas made a big decision to switch out its pitcher. This decision did not slow down Tulsa’s runners, a sacrifice fly from Page Knight allowing Cole to put Tulsa 3-7 on the board. Towards the end of the inning, two walks would load the bases for Tulsa. Aliya Scarborough would seal the deal and deliver a two-run double to cut the deficit to 5-7.
The Golden Hurricane continued to push itself forward despite some tight situations. When Tulsa already had two outs, Cole would be hit by a pitch and placed on a base. Knight would double to the right, and this gave Cole the perfect opportunity to return home. Following this play, Central Arkansas would make another pitcher change. The change worked in its favor, and the Sugar Bears were able to put an end to Tulsa’s scoring.
Despite all of its hard work in the previous stanzas, the Golden Hurricane would lose the tight grip it had on the Sugar Bears. Central Arkansas would score a whopping four runs in the seventh inning. Despite two different pitcher changes for Tulsa, Central Arkansas would continue to load the bases on multiple occasions. Adding in the short performances by Tulsa in the bottom of the inning, the Sugar Bears were able to run away with the game 6-11.
This game advanced Central Arkansas’ record to 15-18 while it dropped the Golden Hurricane 17-16. Following this game, the Golden Hurricane stayed in home field to host North Texas University in a three-game series that started on Friday, March 28.
