Category: Arkansas Softball

Deifel wins 300th of career as Arkansas rolls Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky was a nice little warm-up for Arkansas as No. 4 Tennessee is set to visit on the weekend.

Bowling Green was a nice little stop-over for Arkansas on their way back from Lexington, turns out.

The 12th-ranked Razorbacks, fresh off taking two of three from No. 20 Kentucky on the weekend, dropped to the southwest just a bit Monday where they beat up on Western Kentucky, 7-0.

A four-run fifth inning was plenty for the Razorbacks. Chenise Delce and Nikki McGaffin combined to strike out eight in the seven-inning game. McGaffin was perfect in her two, setting half of the batters she faced down via punch-out.

Kacie Hoffman opened the scoring in the fourth with a three-run home run. Atalyia Rijo followed with a solo shot and Cylie Halvorson’s RBI double capped things in the frame.

The Razorbacks’ win marked the 300th victory for coach Courtney Deifel. Deifel is in her eighth season with the Razorbacks after coaching Maryland for one year. All but 27 of her wins have come with the Hogs.

Arkansas has a big weekend on slate next from Bogle Park. No. 4 Tennessee visits Friday through Sunday. At 16-2, the Vols have a three-game lead in the loss column on Georgia for the SEC lead.

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Hogs drop finale to Kentucky, still in third in SEC

Arkansas is tied for third in the SEC after taking two of three from No. 20 Kentucky.

Starting pitching wasn’t exactly a strength for the Arkansas softball team on the weekend. And after getting away with it in the second game of the weekend series against Kentucky, the Wildcats ensured no second would come to fruition.

The 20th-ranked Cats beat Arkansas, 3-1, on Sunday in the finale of the three-game set. The Razorbacks took the series, still, two games to one and are tied for third in the SEC with three weekends left in the regular season.

Kentucky sent Arkansas starter Callie Turner to the proverbial showers quickly. The junior left-hander pitched just 1 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks. Robyn Herron and Chenise Delce worked the 4 2/3 innings, but the hole was already too big.

Kennedy Sullivan pitched a complete game for Kentucky. She only struck out two Arkansas batters, but gave up only one extra-base hit of her six allowe. She also didn’t walk a single hitter.

Arkansas is back in action quickly as they zip down the road to Bowling Green to play a one-off game against Western Kentucky.

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Razorbacks take both in doubleheader against No. 20 Kentucky

How’s a 3-for-3 day with 8 RBI sound? Rylin Hedgecock may not ever want to leave Kentucky after her performance.

As much as the Arkansas men’s stick-and-ball club is struggling in the back-half of the SEC, the Arkansas womens’ is headed the opposite direction.

The Razorbacks, ranked 12th in the nation, powerered past No. 20 Kentucky on Saturday in both games of a doubleheader. Arkansas won the first game, 8-1, then dropped a hammer in the second, 14-6, in five innings.

Such wins, especially on the road, will only serve to bolster Arkansas’ national-seed hopes when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks, of a 34-12 (11-6) record, are guaranteed postseason participants. But a national seed would be a blessing.

Arkansas had just two extra-base hits, neither of which were homers, in the opener. Timely hitting and Chenise Delce lifted the Hogs. Delce worked the whole game, scattering six hits while striking out six. Her lineup hit 12 singles on the other side.

In the second game, Rylin Hedgecock had herself a day. Arkansas’ designated player went 3 for 3 with two home runs and 8 RBI. Her first blast was a two-run shot in the opening frame. Then, in Arkansas’ nine-run second, she added a three-run homer.

The Hogs needed them at the time. Kentucky had scored three in the first and would plate another two in the second to chase Hannah Camenzind.

Arkansas will go for a sweep, counteracting the baseball team’s weekend, on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon in Lexington.

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Arkansas rolls Texas A&M-Commerce to win fourth straight

Arkansas dropped six runs in the sixth to close out Texas A&M-Commerce in a seven-run win.

For a while Tuesday afternoon, the Arkansas softball team looked like it might be in another spot of trouble against an inferior opponent.

For a long while.

In the sixth inning, though, the Razorbacks scored six runs and ultimately dispatched visiting Texas A&M-Commerce in the teams’ one-off series from Bogle Park, 8-1.

Arkansas scored those six runs in the sixth on just four hits. The Razorbacks saw base-runners aditionally on a Commerce error, a hit-by-pitch and three walks. The three walks came in a row at the end of the inning, but all three runners were abandoned on a pop-out to end the inning.

The top four hitters in the Arkansas lineup all had RBI. Leadoff hitter Reagan Johnson was the only of the four who had two knocks. Cylie Halvorson led with three RBI from the three-hole.

Robyn Herron pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10, before Chenise Delce, drafted earlier in the day to play professional softball, finished the final 1 1/3.

Arkansas travels to No. 16 on the weekend for a three-game set back in SEC play.

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Razorbacks pitching ace goes No. 9 overall in draft

Not often do college athletes have a job waiting on them before their season is even finished.

Chenise Delce has a job waiting for her when the Arkansas softball season is finished.

The Razorbacks’ ace was selected as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 Women’s Professional Fastpitch draft by her hometown Oklahoma City Spark. She can sign after he eligibility with the Razorbacks has been exhausted.

Delce won SEC Pitcher of the Year for Arkansas last year after transferring in from Tulsa. In her two seasons, slightly less, with the Hogs, she has a record of 35-8 with 324 strikeouts and has eight wins against teams ranked in the Top 25..

“I want to congratulate Chenise and Oklahoma City for the draft tonight,” said Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel. “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of Chenise and for what she has accomplished. She’s an elite talent and competitor. She’s an even more incredible human. I can’t wait to watch her represent her hometown and the Razorbacks.”

Delce became the third Razorbacks player in history to be drafted in softball. Taylor Ellsworth currently plays in the same league.

The WPF plays professionaly from June 15 to August 7.

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Razorbacks sweep Alabama-Birmingham, giving up just one run in three games

Arkansas entered the weekend having lost three of four. The Hogs took all three from UAB, giving up just one run.

The Arkansas softball team entered the weekend having lost three of its last four games, including falling to Central Arkansas for a second time on the season.

Alabama-Birmingham proved just the cure.

The Razorbacks took all three games on the weekend against UAB, including Sunday’s 6-0 capper over the Blazers. In all, Arkansas outscored UAB, 22-1. The Hogs host Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday before getting back into SEC play on the weeked against Kentucky in Lexington.

Raigan Kramer hit a three-run home run in the fourth and Rylin Hedgecock added a solo shot in the fifth. On the other side, Arkansas pitchers Calli Turner and Nikki McGaffin allowed just one hit and didn’t walk a batter while striking out seven.

Fifteen games into SEC play, the Razorbacks find themselves in a tie for fourth at 9-6. They’re one game back of second-place Georgia alongside Alabama and Auburn.

First pitch on Tuesday is at 4 p.m.

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Razorbacks walk-it-off against No. 8 Georgia in front of second-largest crowd ever

Arkansas sits in fourth in the SEC heading into a week-long break from league play.Arkansas sits in fourth in the SEC heading into a week-long break from league play.

The SEC’s dominance in college baseball is well-known. Over in softball, it’s almost the same.

So as Arkansas lost the series two games to one against Georgia over the weekend, there was little shame. Especially with the way things ended.

The ninth-ranked Razorbacks beat the No. 8 Bulldogs in walk-off fashion in the third game of the set on Saturday as Cylie Halvorson’s solo home run in the seventh sent the second largest crowd in Bogle Park history into a frenzy as Arkansas won, 4-3.

Halvorson’s homer was her sixth, second most on the team. And it came just one inning after Hannah Gammill hit her fifth of the year to tie things, also with a solo shot.

Georgia had plated a run in each of the first three innings against Arkansas starter Chenise Delce on the way to a 3-0 lead. Delce would give up just three more hits the rest of the way to give her hitters a chance.

The Razorbacks popped for two in the fourth on Reagan Johnson’s two-run single. After going down in order in the fifth, Gammill evened the game with her ball over the left field fence to set the stage for the final-inning dramatics.

Arkansas sits in fourth in the SEC at 9-6 in conference play. The Hogs are off the league-play bent for a while as they host Central Arkansas, Alabama-Birmingham and Texas A&M-Commerce through April 18. Arkansas is back to the SEC on Friday, April 21 when the Razorbacks travel to Kentucky for three games.

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Softball Diamond Hog named SEC Freshman of the Week

Freshman pitcher, Hannah Camenzind, won her first SEC Freshman of the Week award after going 2-0 last weekend against Mississippi State. 

Freshman pitcher, Hannah Camenzind, won her first SEC Freshman of the Week award after going 2-0 last weekend against Mississippi State. 

Camenzind pitched a total of 7.2 innings during the weekend sweep, with a zero ERA and a .192 opponent batting average.

Before joining the Diamond Hogs pitching staff, Camenzind was a slugger for her high school, Skutt Catholic, in Omaha, Nebraska. She finished her high school career with 44 home runs and 144 RBIs and back-to-back state championships. Her senior season included a 16-0 record in the circle and a 2.238 OPS.

For the Razorbacks, she’s been one of the best in the pen, leading the team with a 1.68 ERA.

Camenzind twin sister, Lauren, is also on the team. Lauren plays infield and has played in 27 games with a .339 batting average. Both were ranked in the top 25 by Extra Inning Softball’s 2022 Extra Elite 100.

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Sweet sweep: Hogs’ get two in final inning to beat Mississippi State by one

The Razorbacks have won seven of their last eight games after taking all three from MSU on the weekend.

It wasn’t a walk-off because the runs came in the seventh and Arkansas was on the road.

But the two runs the Razorbacks scored in the seventh were just as sweet as Arkansas swept past Mississippi State by taking the third game of the series, 5-4, on Sunday from Starkville.

Reagan Johnson started the seventh with a leadoff triple to get things going with nobody out. She didn’t need to even do that, as it happened, because four pitches later Raigan Kramer scored both with a go-ahead home run.

Chenise Delce came on in the seventh to close the door and she retired all three Bulldogs hitters to give Arkansas its seventh win in its last eight games.

Mississippi State had just taken a one-run lead itself in the previous inning. Matalasi Faapito’s two-run homer came off Hannah Camenzind. Neither run counted as earned, though, because the batter before Faapito, Nadia Barbary, reached via error. The error just happened to be on Camenzind herself.

In all the teams combined for five errors in a messy day in the field.

Arkansas is back at Bogle Park on Thursday, Friday and Saturday when the Razorbacks host No. 10 Georgia.

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Hogs clinch series Saturday with shutout over Mississippi State

Arkansas needed just five innings to clinch against MSU, its 10th straight road series win.

That’s 10 straight. Not shabby.

The Arkansas softball team on Saturday beat Mississippi State, 11-0, to win its 10th straight road series in SEC play. And they needed just five innings to do it. The series finale is set for noon in Starkville.

All 11 runs came without a homer, too. The Hogs scored four in the first off just one hit, signaling a long day for MSU.

Walk. Walk. Hit-by-pitch. Fly out. Double. Wild pitch. Wild pitch. Strikeout. Fielder’s choice.

Four runs and one knock.

Cylie Halvorson had a perfect day, going 3 for 3 with three RBI and a run and Reagan Johnson joined her with a 3-for-3 day scoring three runs.

Hannah Camenzind gave up three hits and struck out three in the five-inning win.

After Sunday’s finale, Arkansas is back at Bogle Park for a meeting against No. 10 Georgia.

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