FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Trailing by four runs in its series finale against Missouri, the University of Arkansas softball team put together a seven-run fifth inning on its way to clinching the series with a 10-7 win Sunday afternoon at Bogle Park. Tori Cooper and Kayla Green had home runs while senior Autumn Buczek hit the game-winning double. With the win, Arkansas improves to 16-1 on its home field this season. Overall, the Razorbacks are 25-6 with a 2-4 mark in SEC play.
Sundays triumph doubled as the 100th-career win for head coach Courtney Deifel with 73 of those coming since she arrived in Fayetteville prior to the 2016 season.
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Arkansas closes out its 13-game home stand next weekend with a three-game series against Mississippi State. First pitch against the Bulldogs is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. (CT)
Final: Arkansas 10, Missouri 7
The two teams combined for 11 runs through the first 18 innings of the series before the offenses broke through to combine for 13 runs in the fifth frame. The Razorbacks led 3-0 after a solo shot by Cooper and a pair of RBI by Hannan McEwen and Ashley Diaz in the third. Missouri (19-17, 2-7 SEC) got a solo home run in the top of the fourth and the home team led 3-1 before the slugfest began.
The visitors scored six runs thanks to five-consecutive, two-out hits in the top of the fifth inning. After freshman starter Mary Haff re-entered to get the third out and end the outburst, the Arkansas bats went to work. With runners on first and second after a walk to McEwen and single by Diaz, junior Katie Warrick singled up the middle to push across Arkansas fourth run.
Green stepped to the dish with pinch runners Keely Edwards and Carley Haizlip on second and third, respectively, and took the first offering from Lauren Rice deep to left center for the game-tying home run. It was her fifth big fly of the season, and her first since March 2. The rally continued with a walk to senior A.J. Belans and a fielding error that gave Arkansas an extra out to play with.
Buczek came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second. The Razorback infielder responded with a double to left center that allowed pinch runner Jada Dotson to score from second and give Arkansas the 8-7 lead. McEwen earned her second walk of the inning to load the bases for Diaz who capped the big inning with a two-run single to right field. Seven runs, five hits and one Mizzou error later, the Razorbacks were back on top, 10-7.
With the help of her fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game, Haff worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning to keep the momentum on the Razorbacks side. A two-out single in the seventh kept Missouri alive but a ground ball to Belans was gobbled up and flipped to Bugarin at second for the force out and the win. Haff picked up her 15th win of the season and second of the weekend.
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