The No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks opened the weekend with a dominating 6-1 win over Missouri State, most of that domination came from the arm of junior right-hander Chenise Delce.
Starting off the weekend strong. pic.twitter.com/yTxQHzfFUk
— Arkansas Razorback Softball (@RazorbackSB) March 4, 2022
Delce got the nod in the circle for the Razorbacks in the opening game of the Easton Razorback Rumble Thursday night and stayed in complete control. After allowing a run in the first inning, she went on to face the minimum in five of the remaining six innings to get the win. In a complete-game effort, Delce struck out 10 batters while allowing only three hits, only one of those being an extra-base hit.
The Bears grabbed the early lead over Arkansas on a double by Alex Boze that scored Daphne Plummer to give Missouri State the early 1-0 lead. Following the double by Boze, Delce struck the next two batters out to end the inning.
The Arkansas bats took a while to warm up, but when they got going, it was hard to slow them down. The first runs of the game came in the 3rd inning when Taylor Ellsworth cleared the bases on a double down the left field line, scoring two runs and putting Arkansas ahead, 2-1.
The bats were silenced again until the 5th inning, when Hannah McEwen, Danielle Gibson, and Linnie Malkin each produced run-scoring singles to extend the Razorbacks lead to 6-1.
Delce would strikeout three of the final six batters to clinch the victory.
The victory was special for head coach Courtney Diefel, as she collected her 200th victory as the head coach of the Razorbacks program. Prior to taking over the Razorback program in 2016, Deifel spent one season as the head coach of Maryland softball, where she went 27-27.
Congrats @CoachDeifel on 2⃣0⃣0⃣! pic.twitter.com/7ThP0AWQJM
— Arkansas Razorback Softball (@RazorbackSB) March 4, 2022
The Razorbacks continue with the Easton Razorback Rumble on Friday with games against Kennesaw State and UMKC. First pitch with Kennesaw State is 3:30 p.m., while the tilt with UMKC is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Each game can be viewed on SEC Network+.