FAYETTEVILLE -- It was a grand time for the No. 20 Arkansas softball team Thursday at Bogle Park.
The Razorbacks opened the Woo Pig Classic with a doubleheader sweep of Drake, as both games were won with come-from-behind grand slams. Kayla Green did the honors in Game 1, while Danielle Gibson ended Game 2 in walk-off fashion.
Arkansas (13-2) defeated the Bulldogs 6-3 in the opener, before sweeping the nightcap, 6-4. The Razorbacks have now won 12 consecutive games and remain a perfect 9-0 at home.
"We just weren't really firing offensively, maybe pressing a little bit -- and the Drake pitchers were keeping us off balance," Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. "But our girls found a way to fight through it. And good teams find ways to win."
Green, Arkansas' junior catcher, picked the perfect time for her big hit, as she entered the weekend showcase hitting .171 on the season. But with the Hogs down 3-1 to Drake in the bottom of the sixth inning, she lofted a shot down the left-field line that cleared the fence – and cleared the bases -- for the eventual game-winning grand slam.
"I just wanted to go out there and have fun, and lay it all out on the field," Green said. "I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing to the ball, I was thinking about what I knew I was capable of doing."
Mary Haff, who had pitched 20 consecutive innings without surrendering a run, got into an early jam against the Bulldogs in the opener, allowing three hits and one run in the top of the first inning. After leading off the game with a single, Drake's Macy Johnson came around to score on Addie Lightner's sacrifice fly.
Haff found her groove and held Drake to just one hit over the next three innings.
Arkansas tied the score at 1-1 in the fourth, when Green's bloop single to shallow center brought home Cally Kildow.
After Drake began the fifth with a single and a walk, Haff was replaced by freshman Jenna Bloom. Lightener doubled in one run, then came around to score on a sacrifice fly to give the Bulldogs a two-run lead.
Lennie Malkin and Hannah Gammill sparked the Arkansas offense in the sixth, leading off with back-to-back singles. Ryan Jackson laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached on a Bulldog error to load the bases. That's when Green turned the table on an 0-1 pitch from Drake's Nicole Timmons. It appeared to be a long pop-up, but kept sailing, landing just over the head of the left fielder and the 200-foot sign. It gave the Razorbacks its first lead of the game, 5-3.
"Their pitcher had been throwing us the rise ball the whole game, so in that last at-bat, I just went up there looking to drive the rise ball," Green said. "I was just swinging out of my shoes, trying to stay on top of that rise ball, and I did."
Braxton Burnside doubled in Keely Huffine for the final run and the three-run cushion.
Bloom (3-1) was flawless in the final two innings, sitting down the final six Drake batters in order.
Trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning of the second game, Gibson capped another Razorback rally, abruptly ending the game with a bases-loaded blast over the deep center field fence.
The late rally began with an Aly Manzo single, followed by Sam Torres then reaching on an error. Audrie LaValley was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Burnside single in the first run to make it 4-2, setting the table for Gibson.
"I think this team really feels that if they still have outs left, they have a chance to win," Deifel said.
Green put the Razorbacks ahead 1-0 with a second-inning double that scored Jackson, who had reached with a triple.
Arkansas freshman hurler Lauren Howell cruised through the first four innings, scattering four hits to keep the Bulldogs scoreless. But when Drake got two runners on in the fifth, Deifel brought Bloom in to take over. Lightner singled in Johnson to tie the game, before Emily Valtman knocked in Haylee Leyman to put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-1.
After Gammill walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch in the sixth, Green hit a sharp two-out liner to center for her fourth hit of the day. Gammill rounded third, but center fielder Macy Johnson's throw to catcher Skylar Rigby was on target and beat Gammill to the plate for the final out.
Drake extended the lead with two more runs in the seventh, taking advantage of two Arkansas fielding errors.
Arkansas will play another doubleheader today, hosting Kansas (5-4) at 3 p.m., then Northwestern (La.) State (6-2) at 5:30 p.m. The Razorbacks will wrap up the weekend on Saturday against Northwestern (La.) State at 3 p.m.