Softball team splits 4 games after break
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The Bryant Lady Hornets softball team came back after two weeks and a day since their last game and claimed a 5-2 win over the Greenbrier Lady Panthers on Friday, March 31.
The game was played on the team’s way to the annual Harrison Invitational Tournament on Saturday, April 1. At Harrison, the Lady Hornets suffered a heartbreaking loss to Cabot, 4-3, in the first round, came back to dismiss the host team 11-1, then ran into the rival Benton Lady Panthers who ended their day with a 5-1 setback.
The tournament play featured hot hitting from freshman Christen Kirchner who went 7 for 13 (a .538 average) in the three games.
At Greenbrier, the Lady Hornets won in extra innings, scoring three times in the top of the ninth with the help of two passed balls and a pair of stolen bases.
Kayla Pitts, Lindsey Cason and Kara Vaughan each had two hits in the game. Kirchner, Kristen Dorsey, Tyler Cox, Hailey King and Randi Juliusson each had a hit as well.
Cox pitched until the middle of the fifth when Vaughan came on in relief, eventually picking up the win.
The game was tied 2-2 after regulation play. The Lady Hornets were unable to score in the first extra inning. In the home half of the frame, Greenbrier made a bid to win it. With two out and a runner at second, a shot was hit to right that looked like it might drive in the winner. But Kirchner, the right fielder, charged in, fielded the ball and fired to first before the batter could get there, retiring the side.
At Harrison, the Lady Hornets had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth in the opener, but Cabot tied it. The time limit expired and the international tiebreaker was employed with each inning beginning with a runner at second. The Lady Hornets were unable to score. Cabot’s runner advanced on a passed ball then scored on a sacrifice fly to win it.
Kirchner was 2 for 3 with a triple in the contest. Cox also had two hits. Dorsey, Vaughan and Sarah Hart also had hits.
In the win over Harrison, Kirchner pitched a one-hitter and went 3 for 4 at the plate. Ashley Herndon, Cason, King, Vaughan and Whitney McCoy each contributed base hits.
But the Lady Hornets were held to just four hits by Benton. Kirchner had two of them. Hart and King each had one.
Cox pitched into the fifth before Vaughan relieved.
“Benton hit the ball really well,” commented Lady Hornets coach Lisa Spears. “That had seven hits.”
The weekend play served as a valuable tune-up for the Lady Hornets’ return to AAAAA-Central Conference action. They were set to play Mount St. Mary’s at Burns Park on Tuesday, April 4, before hosting a doubleheader with Little Rock Central on Thursday, April 6.
