UA softball team earns 1st ranking

Teammates greet Arkansas' Devon Wallace after a walk-off grand slam against Georgia earlier this year.

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas’ softball program, which started in 1997, has its first national ranking.

The Razorbacks (30-17, 8-10 SEC) are No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today softball poll released Tuesday.

“It’s a great feeling. I’m just really proud for our players,” said Mike Larabee, in his fourth season as Arkansas’ coach. “They’ve worked really, really hard and deserve it. It’s important for recruiting, the lifeblood of your program.

“I think people are starting to recognize that Arkansas softball is on the rise.”

Arkansas is 8-2 in its past 10 SEC games after being swept at No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 3 Florida to open conference play. Two of those first six SEC losses were by one run.

“Nobody panicked,” Larabee said. “I think our players knew they could compete, but they just didn’t quite know how to win those games.”

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Arkansas softball coach Mike Larabee has the Razorbacks ranked for the first time in program history.

The Razorbacks started figuring out how to win in the SEC during their third series when they swept three games from No. 23 Georgia, 5-2, 5-3 and 8-1 at Bogle Park. It marked the first time Arkansas had swept Georgia, and the first time the Razorbacks had swept a ranked team since 2000.

“Our kids kept a good attitude, kept working hard,” Larabee said of bouncing back from the 0-6 SEC start. “We tell our players at this time of the year a lot of teams start getting complacent, quit practicing hard. I told them this coaching staff is not going to allow that to happen.”

Arkansas sophomore first baseman and lead off hitter Devon Wallace is batting .393 with 12 home runs and 27 RBI. She has drawn an NCAA-leading 64 walks - two shy of the SEC season record -and is Arkansas’ career leader with 103. She has scored 49 runs this season.

“So many times with younger hitters, they’ll get impatient and start swinging at pitches outside the zone,” Larabee said. “Devin says, ‘If you want to walk me, I trust my teammates that they’re going to get me home.’ When they do pitch to her, she usually barrels the ball up. She’s had an amazing year.”

Wallace also has a .988 fielding percentage, having committed three errors while starting all 47 games.

Freshman center fielder Stephanie Canfield is batting .380.

“To do what she’s doing as a freshman in the SEC is pretty impressive,” Larabee said.

Seniors Hope McLemore and Chelsea Cohen combined on a no-hitter in Arkansas’ 4-0 victory against Kentucky last Saturday. McLemore (5-2, 2.04 ERA) pitched 6 1/3 innings and Cohen (13-8, 2.93 ERA) recorded the final two outs.

Cohen started all three games of the Georgia series and held the Lady Bulldogs to four runs over 16 innings. She leads Arkansas with 130 strikeouts and 121 2/3 innings.

Earlier this season, sophomore Kimmy Beasley (7-7, 3.00 ERA) pitched a six-inning no-hitter in a 10-0 victory at Savannah State.

“It seems like every weekend someone has the hot hand,” Larabee said.

Arkansas plays at No. 2 Tennessee (42-6, 15-3) this weekend. It’s the seventh consecutive weekend the Razorbacks have played a nationally ranked SEC team. Since sweeping Georgia, they have gone 1-2 against No. 12 LSU, 2-1 at No. 11 Missouri and 2-1 against No. 19 Kentucky.

“It’s like a super regional every single weekend,” Larabee said. “That’s kind of how we approach it: Let’s go win the series. I think we’re definitely battle-tested.”

Sports, Pages 21 on 04/24/2013