Sometimes, it is better to do your damage early.
That is what No. 8 Arkansas did in their series finale with the No. 22 LSU Tigers on Monday night. A grand slam by senior [autotag]Linnie Malkin[/autotag] headlined a five-run 1st inning for Arkansas, and that would be enough to give the Razorbacks the series win over LSU, defeating the Tigers, 7-3 in the series finale at Bogle Park.
The first four batters of the Arkansas 1st inning reached base, setting the table for Malkin to hit her 6th home run of the season. [autotag]KB Sides[/autotag], [autotag]Hannah McEwen[/autotag], and [autotag]Taylor Ellsworth[/autotag] each collected singles. [autotag]Danielle Gibson[/autotag] would earn an RBI by getting hit with a pitch with the bases loaded. The next two at-bats would result in outs for Arkansas, but the bases would remain loaded for Malkin, who would crush the first pitch of her at-bat over the center field fence to extend the Razorback lead to 5-0.
LSU would cut into the Arkansas lead in the 4th inning on back-to-back home runs to cut the lead to 5-3. Danieca Coffey reached base to lead off the inning on a triple, and came home on a two-run home run by Ciara Briggs to put the Tigers on the board. Taylor Pleasants followed suit by sending the 2nd pitch of the ensuing at-bat over the right-center field fence to trim the Razorback lead to two runs.
Arkansas would seal the win over the final two innings on RBI singles by Kacie Hoffman and Taylor Ellsworth respectively, giving the Razorbacks their second-straight SEC series win.
With the win, Arkansas is now 22-6, 4-2 in SEC play. KB Sides recorded three hits for Arkansas, behind her with two hits each were Ellsworth, McEwen, Hoffman and Malkin. [autotag]Jenna Bloom[/autotag] earned her 8th win of the season by tossing 3.0 innings where she allowed three earned runs on three hits while striking out two batters. [autotag]Chenise Delce[/autotag] grabbed the four-inning save for Arkansas.
Next up for Arkansas is a three-game series on the road at Ole Miss. The Rebels completed a three-game series sweep at home against Missouri to even up their SEC record at 3-3. The first game of the series will be Friday, April 1 at 5 p.m.
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