Tag: Taylor Ellsworth

Razorbacks hold off Central Arkansas in midweek action

An early grand slam by Linnie Malkin would be enough to lift the No. 10 Razorbacks over Central Arkansas in midweek action on Tuesday.

The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks (25-7) started strong in their midweek game against in-state foe Central Arkansas (19-15) on Tuesday, but the Sugar Bears refused to quit.

After going down 6-0 early, Central Arkansas scored four runs over the final four innings, including two runs in the bottom of the 7th, but the early deficit was too much to overcome, as Arkansas grabbed the 6-4 win at Farris Field in Conway, Ark.

Jaylee Engelkes looked to play the role of hero for Central Arkansas on Tuesday, as she was responsible for scoring the final three runs of the night in the attempted comeback effort. Following a solo home run by Tyla Vernon in the 4th inning to put the Sugar Bears on the board, Englekes would double to right-center, which scored a run on an error by [autotag]KB Sides[/autotag] to cut into the Razorback lead, 6-2. Then, in the bottom of the 7th inning, Englekes would strike again by recording a double to right-center field to score Tremere Harris and Jenna Wildeman to clear the bases and to cut into Arkansas’s lead, 6-4.

However, for Central Arkansas, their effort was shutdown as Kylie Griffin grounded out to end the game.

The Razorbacks, who just came off a series win at Ole Miss over the weekend, started off the game with hot bats. The first six batters of the inning reached base, with five of them scoring.

[autotag]Taylor Ellsworth[/autotag] walked on a full-count, becoming the third-straight Razorback to reach base to begin the inning. The next batter, [autotag]Danielle Gibson[/autotag], would reach base on a fielder’s choice to 2nd base, which unfortunately ended with Sides being thrown out at home. Arkansas would score their first run of the game in the next at-bat, when [autotag]Hannah Gammill[/autotag] was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

As the bases remained loaded, the momentum would stay on Arkansas’ side as [autotag]Linnie Malkin[/autotag] would get an opportunity to add to the lead. It was an opportunity she gladly took.

Malkin crushed her 7th home run of the season over the center field fence to blow the game open, giving Arkansas the 5-0 lead before Central Arkansas had the chance to respond.

The Razorbacks would get one more run in the game on a solo home run by [autotag]Audrie LaValley[/autotag], who hit her second homerun of the season in the 4th inning, giving Arkansas the 6-0 lead.

Sides and LaValley led the team in hits with two each. Callie Turner earned the win in the circle by striking out three batters and issuing just two walks in 5.0 innings of work, Jenna Bloom would finish the game in relief, allowing a hit and two earned runs in 2.0 innings.

Arkansas Softball returns to Bogle Park on Friday to host the No. 17 Auburn Tigers for game one of a three-game SEC weekend series. First pitch for game one is set for 6 p.m. CT.

SOFTBALL: Malkin’s grand slam propels Arkansas to series win over LSU

Razorbacks do their damage early, take care of LSU to earn second-straight SEC series win.

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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SOFTBALL: Late rally lifts LSU over Arkansas to even series

Arkansas could not respond to a late LSU rally, setting up a winner-take-all game on Monday in front of a national audience.

The story so far through the first two games of Arkansas’ series with LSU has been offense production. In Saturday’s opener, both teams combined to record 23 hits with just three strikeouts in Arkansas’ 8-7 win.

Sunday would be no different, as both teams combined to hit 17 times, with each pitching staff grabbing five strikeouts each.

The difference would be one swing of the bat by LSU’s Georgia Clark. Clark broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 7th inning by hitting a bases-loaded to double to plate three runs, giving the Tigers the 7-4 win on Sunday, forcing a rubber match on Monday night.

Arkansas grabbed control of the game early, but could not fight off a furious LSU comeback, as the Tigers scored six of their seven runs over the final two innings. LSU grabbed their first lead of the game on a three-run blast by Ali Newland, giving the Tigers the 4-3 lead over the Razorbacks. Newland would end the day with four RBI, as she put her squad on the board in the top of the 4th inning on an RBI double to left center to cut into Arkansas’ 2-1 lead.

The Razorbacks grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning on a double by Kacie Hoffman. Hoffman took advantage of two earlier walks in the inning to Taylor Ellsworth and Danielle Gibson, scoring both runners on the double to right field.

Ellsworth would extend Arkansas’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning on a solo home run, her sixth home run of the season. The Razorbacks responded to LSU’s three-run home run in the 6th on a single by Audrey LaValley to tie the game at 4-4 going into the final inning.

The Razorbacks would end the game on three straight groundouts following the three-run double by Newland in the 7th inning, ending the comeback effort.

Ellsworth, LaValley, and Hoffman had two hits each in the game, with Hoffman leading the team in RBI with two. Mary Haff took the loss in the circle for Arkansas, as she allowed three earned runs in 1.1 innings. Chenise Delce struck out five batters, and allowed seven hits and four earned runs in her start.

Arkansas looks to bounce back on Monday in game three of the series with LSU. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bogle Park, and can be seen on SEC Network.

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