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Texas kept it in check for a few innings Thursday night, but the Razorbacks’ explosive offense eventually carried them to a win in Game 1 of the Fayetteville Super Regional.
With the teams locked in a scoreless tie, Arkansas finally broke through with three runs in the fifth inning, tacked on four more in the sixth and Chenise Delce took care of the rest in a 7-1 win in front of a packed Bogle Park.
A crowd of 3,100 was on hand for the Razorbacks’ first super regional win in program history, which put them one win away from clinching their first ever trip to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
“It just sets the tone for us,” Hannah Gammill said. “It shows us and gives us the confidence while applying pressure on the other team. It’s really huge to win the first one.”
The game was decided in the fifth inning.
In the top of the fifth, the Longhorns got back-to-back singles by Katie Cimusz and Lauren Burke and then moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt by Alyssa Popelka. To set up a force at every base, and to avoid getting beat by arguably Texas’ top hitter, Arkansas opted to intentionally walk Janae Jefferson.
That loaded the bases with one out and Delce escaped the jam by striking out Mia Scott and getting Bella Dayton to ground out to second.
“I had to put my stuff against their stuff,” Delce said. “I’m really confident in my stuff. I tell myself to keep throwing, and I’ll probably get good results. I had to focus on hitting my spots, so I feel like that’s what worked.”
Momentum swung in Arkansas’ favor and it turned into the first runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Hannah McEwen led off the inning with a double and — after a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Ellsworth and intentional walk to Danielle Gibson — Gammill drove her in with an RBI single.
The Razorbacks added to their lead when Kacie Hoffman put the ball in play with a ground ball to first and Gammill scored from third. Texas tried to throw her out at the plate, but Cimusz’s throw was wide. The error allowed Gibson to score, too.
That was plenty of run support, but Arkansas tacked on another four runs in the sixth inning. The first two runs came on RBI singles by Gammill and Linnie Malkin and the other two came on another error by Texas.
The Longhorns managed to scratch across one run after loading the bases with one out in the seventh, but that was the lone run Delce allowed. She scattered six hits and three free passes (one walk, two HBP) across seven innings while striking out six to earn the win.
Game 2 of the Fayetteville Super Regional is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN2. If Arkansas wins, it would advance to the Women’s College World Series. If Texas wins, it would force a winner-take-all Game 3 at an unannounced time Saturday.
