The Arkansas Razorbacks softball team evened their SEC opening series against Georgia with a 7-6 win on Saturday night at Bogle Park. With this result, the Razorbacks improved to a 20-2 overall record, while Georgia moved to 19-6.
Arkansas started strong in the first inning with Tianna Bell hitting a grand slam, giving the team an early 4-0 lead. Georgia responded in the second inning with four runs, including a two-run single and a two-run home run by Kierstin Roose.
The Razorbacks regained control in the third inning when Atalyia Rijo singled for an RBI and Kennedy Miller hit a sacrifice fly, putting Arkansas ahead 6-4. Georgia’s Bailey Lindemuth narrowed the gap with a solo home run in the fifth, but Ella McDowell added an RBI double for Arkansas later that inning to extend their lead to 7-5.
Georgia made one last push in the seventh inning, scoring once and putting runners on the corners with two outs. Robyn Herron came in as relief and secured her second save of the season by forcing a groundout to end the game.
Tianna Bell led Arkansas offensively, going 2-for-4 with four RBIs from her grand slam. Ella McDowell and Dakota Kennedy each contributed two hits. Kennedy also reached her 200th career hit during the game with an infield single in the fourth inning.
Payton Burnham earned her fifth win of the season after pitching over four innings of relief. She allowed five runs on two hits and struck out one batter. Georgia’s Ada Little took her first loss of the season after allowing two runs over just over one inning pitched.
Freshman Brinli Bain extended her streak of reaching base safely to 22 games, becoming the first freshman in program history to reach base in each of her first 22 collegiate games. This ties Nicole Schroeder’s mark from 2017 for second-longest streak to start a season; Devon Wallace holds the record at 31 games set in 2013.
After splitting the first two games of their series against Georgia, Arkansas will play again Sunday at Bogle Park for a winner-take-all third game. The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel commented after the win: “We fought a lot more today and made some good adjustments. We showed a lot of toughness that we did not show yesterday. That is what we want to see. Obviously, we are going to do all the things sometimes, and it won’t be the result we want, but today it fell our way. I felt like it was a really gritty win, and I was proud of our players’ response.”
