Cox fans 17, smacks decisive home run
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
CONWAY — After pitching 5 1/3 perfect innings and helping her team build a 2-0 lead on the Conway Lady Cats, Bryant senior pitcher Tyler Cox tasted a little frustration. A walk, an error and a two-out single had allowed Conway to tie the Lady Hornets in the bottom of the sixth.
The game wound up going to extra innings and, in the top of the eighth, Cox released those frustrations by blasting a three-run home run, then pitching a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning including her 16th and 17th strikeouts of the game, as the Lady Hornets kept their share of first place in the 7A-Central Conference with a dramatic 5-2 win at Conway on Friday, April 20.
The win improved the Lady Hornets to 25-4-1 overall, 10-1 in league play going into a full final week of the regular season. They were set to host Mount St. Mary’s on Monday, April 23, in a make-up game, before welcoming Cabot for a battle for first place on Tuesday, April 24.
Cox kept that showdown in order with her clutch homer and splendid pitching. The single in the sixth was the only hit she allowed. In the seventh, she pitched around another error, picking up another pair of strikeouts.
Catcher Randie Juliusson led off the top of the seventh with a double but was stranded. In the top of the eighth, Hailey King started the frame at second in the accordance with the international tiebreaker. With one out, Christen Kirchner got a bunt down and reached first when Conway’s defense decided to hold King instead of making a play on Kirchner. The duo pulled off a double steal which gave Conway the opportunity to walk Cox with an open base but the Lady Cats decided to pitch to her and lived to regret it.
In the bottom of the inning, Cox struck out the first two then got the final out on a grounder to Sarah Hart at third.
Bryant had initially taken the lead in the first when King and Cox doubled.
It stayed 1-0 until the fourth when Cox singled, Cason walked and Laci Rowland reached on an error to load the bases. Hart grounded into a doubleplay but the second run was able to score on the play.
The Lady Hornets made a bid to add a run in the top of the sixth when Kirchner singled and Cason doubled but both were stranded.
Cox struck out the first four batters she faced and five of the first six. She had fanned five in a row before Conway managed its first baserunner on the one-out walk in the sixth.
