FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel went back and forth trying to determine A.J. Belans' most important home run of the season.
Belans delivered a key solo home run to lead off the fifth inning to break a scoreless tie in Arkansas' 5-0 win over Wichita State to advance to Sunday's NCAA Fayetteville Regional final. It was just Belans' fifth home run of the season.
"Today was maybe her biggest … No, I can't say that," Deifel said with a smile. "She had a really big one earlier, too."
Deifel struggled to pinpoint which home run has had the greatest impact because, the coach said, Belans has gifted Arkansas with several over the course of the season.
The Razorbacks are now 5-0 in games when Belans homers, and she's hit four since the final day of March. On March 31, Belans belted a fourth-inning home run off the foul pole in a 6-0 win over No. 20 Mississippi State. It was her first since Feb. 18 in a 6-5 win over Loyola Marymount.
Three weeks later, she hit a two-run shot in the top of the 10th inning at Auburn to secure at 4-2 win. And at the SEC Tournament on May 10, Belans homered against No. 8 Georgia in an 8-3 win.
"I feel like every home run she's hit has been huge for us," Deifel said. "All of them are so huge, and she just lives for that moment. I think that's what's so great about our offensive lineup. We're getting production throughout the whole lineup."
Wichita State pitcher Bailey Lange was cruising through the Arkansas order prior to Belans' home run. Lange faced just one over the minimum and needed only 37 pitches through four innings.
Shockers coach Kristi Bredbenner said the leadoff home run off Lange – and the subsequent triple by Loren Krzysko – zapped her club's energy. Lange had pitched 11-plus scoreless innings against the Razorbacks this season dating back to teams' March 6 meeting prior to the solo shot.
"With it being the leadoff batter of that inning I think it sets the tone for that inning," Bredbenner said. "Obviously, the next kid gets up and rips a triple on the next pitch and they’re in business. We made a mistake and they ended up capitalizing on it a little bit.
"The atmosphere for Arkansas here is fantastic," she added. "I think any time you can host a regional, you can pack the stands and get a crowd behind you like that it has to take at least a little bit of the energy out of the other team when they hit a home run."
Lange said Saturday's crowd of 2,011 – fourth-most in program history – was the largest she has played in front of. After giving up the home run, the crowd affected her more than anything, she said.
Shockers center fielder Asea Webber said she could feel Arkansas' energy swarm Wichita State after falling behind 1-0.
"It was hard to get that back, that energy back on our side," she said.
Freshman Hannah McEwen plated another run in the fifth inning with an RBI groundout, making it a 2-0 game. In the seventh, Autumn Buczek drove in two on a hot shot hit toward first, which bounced away from Shockers first baseman Ryleigh Buck and into right.
Katie Warrick then set the final score on a fielder's choice. But as Belans has in the past, she provided Arkansas with a timely home run Saturday, advancing the Razorbacks to within one game of the program's first super regional.
"When you start to feel a pitcher like Mary settle in, you know that one run could be a difference maker on the day," Deifel said. "So when A.J. hit that out, I think it gave our team a ton of confidence."