FORT SMITH — The Bryant Lady Hornets were clinging to a 4-3 lead with one out in the bottom of the fifth against the Fort Smith Northside Lady Bears. Raven Loveless, pitching in relief of Shelby Stuckey, got Meegan Jones to tap back to the circle. Loveless threw home for a force and catcher Meagan Chism relayed to first in time for an inning-ending doubleplay.
The Lady Hornets gave themselves some breathing room with four runs in the top of the sixth on the way to an 8-3 win that improved them to 8-0 in the 7A-Central Conference. Now 19-3 overall, Bryant hosts Mount St. Mary Academy on Tuesday.
Regan Ryan went 4 for 4 in the game while Chism and Gabby Bonvillain added three hits each.
Both teams scored a run in the first. For Bryant, it was the product of a two-out double by Chism and an RBI single by Sarah Evans.
Northside tied it in the bottom of the inning but then Stuckey shut them out through four frames. She pitched around an error and a walk in the second, overcame a one-out single in the third and forced the Lady Bears to strand a runner at second in the fourth.
It was in the top of the fourth that the Lady Hornets took the lead. Brooklyn Trammell got the uprising started with a one-out double. Madison Lyles’ fly to right got her to third and Bonvillain singled her in to snap the tie.
Maddie Stephens kept the inning going with a double. Ryan chased home two with a triple to make it 4-1.
Northside made some noise in the bottom of the fifth. A single by Olivia Williams and a one-out walk to Ashton Little was followed by a single from Diona Perkins that loaded the bases. Sydney Green walked to force in a run then Jaleyia Perry got on to make it 4-3.
After the 1-2-3 doubleplay got the Lady Hornets out of that jam, Bonvillain and Stephens rapped one-out singles. A base hit by Ryan and a walk to Regan Keesee set the table for Chism’s base hit that made it 8-3.
Loveless set down the Lady Bears in the sixth around a two-out single by Williams. The Lady Bears could muster nothing in the seventh.
