Lady Hornets finish trip with victory over Bentonville West
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue 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).
After a heartbreaking loss against the Rogers Lady Mounties on Saturday, the Bryant Lady Hornets bounced back with a 12-6 victory over the Bentonville West Lady Wolverines to conclude their weekend visit to northwest Arkansas.
Bryant went 1-2 on the trip. The Lady Hornets are 2-2 overall going into Tuesday’s trip to Beebe.
Bryant 12, Bentonville West 6
Maddie Thompson went 4 for 5 and drove in two runs as Bryant scored in six of the seven innings in the game. Bella Herring had three hits, Regan Dillon and Alissa Suarez had two each. Dillon’s were a double and a homer.
The game didn’t start out so well for the Lady Hornets. Bentonville West jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, sparked by a lead-off inside-the-park homer by Carlee Durham.
Hallie Wacaser drew a walk and when Madison Johnson got a sacrifice bunt down it resulted in a wild throw and Wacaser scored from first. Johnson wound up at third and scored on a groundout by Ryan Rassi.
Christine Mefford, the Bryant starting pitcher, settled in after that. And her teammates gained the lead in the top of the second. Dillon’s solo homer started the uprising. Suarez singled and Haleigh Beck drew a walk. Mefford got a sacrifice bunt down and, when it was misplayed, Suarez scored. Marissa Bracey’s grounder to first allowed Beck to score and the game was tied at 3.
Thompson’s double plated Avari Allen, who was in running for Mefford.
The Lady Wolverines were retired in order in the bottom of the second and, in the third, the Lady Hornets increased the margin. With the bases loaded, Bracey yanked a two-run single to left.
Caitlin LaCerra started the fourth by legging out an infield hit. She swiped second and third. After Herring was struck by pitch, Dillon doubled to make it 7-3. With two down, Herring scored on a passed ball.
A lead-off double by Bailey Steele led to a Bentonville West run in the home fourth. Cierra Cravens’ single picked up the RBI.
Though Mefford issued a pair of two-out walks to load the bases, she kept it 8-4 when she got Johnson to bounce out to Suarez at second.
Hits by Thompson, Abby Gentry and Herring got that run back in the top of the fifth. The Lady Wolverines were unable to respond.
Beck’s one-out single in the top of the sixth led to two more for Bryant. Pinch-runner Paolo Arana stole second, took third on a passed ball and scored on Mefford’s double to right.
Allen, in to run for the pitcher, advanced to second on Bracey’s groundout then scored when Thompson shot a single to center.
An error, three walks and a passed ball produced two runs for West in the bottom of the sixth before Mefford finished her day in the circle by inducing a grounder to Gentry at third off the bat of Caroline Wilhelm.
In the top of the seventh, Herring double and Suarez singled her home to set the final score.
Hannah Work took over pitching for Bryant and retired the side 1-2-3 to end the game.
Rogers 4, Bryant 3
Trailing 3-2, the Lady Hornets rallied to tie the game in the top of the sixth only to have Rogers win it in a walkoff in the bottom of the seventh. A walk, a sacrifice and an RBI single by Jenna Williams made it 4-3.
Herring had two of Bryant’s six hits in the game including a double.
It was a seesaw game. Bryant took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. A throwing error on a tapper to third allowed LaCerra to reach second with one out. She swiped third and Herring singled her in.
Though Work pitched out of a bases-loaded two-out jam in the home half, in the second, the Lady Mounties tied it. Leyton Robinson singled and was bunted to second by Nati Lamson. Carli Jones’ single to right plated the run.
In the top of the third, Bracey lashed a single to right and advanced on Thompson’s sacrifice. LaCerra beat out a bunt for a hit putting runners at the corners for Gentry, who picked up the RBI with a groundout to second.
Again, however, Rogers evened the score in the home half of the inning. This time, a pair of errors and a wild pitch produced the run. Robinson followed with a double but, on a nice relay from Thompson to Gentry to Dillon at the plate, the lead runner was thrown out to keep it 2-2.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth. Rogers’ Journee Zito led off with a triple. She would score on a sacrifice fly by Madison Heinle.
This time, it was Bryant that responded. In the top of the sixth, Herring rifled a double to left with one out. She advanced to third on Dillon’s grounder to the right side then Suarez bounced a single up the middle to bring her home.
Despite a single and an error, the Lady Mounties were kept off the board in the bottom of the sixth. But Bryant was unable to get a runner aboard in the top of the seventh, leading to the walk-off win in the bottom of the inning.
