Razorbacks rebound with blowout of UK

Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel directs her players Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, during play against Butler Community College at Bogle Park in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/211010Daily/ for the photo gallery.

FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas softball Coach Courtney Deifel got the response she was looking for from her team Sunday afternoon.

The No. 7 Razorbacks put Saturday’s tough loss in the rearview mirror with a dominant overall performance in an 8-0 run-rule win over No. 8 Kentucky at Bogle Park.

Arkansas (32-8, 11-4 SEC) hit four home runs, including two by lead-off hitter KB Sides, and Chenise Delce tossed her second complete game of the weekend.

That effort came a little more than 12 hours after the Razorbacks blew a 7-1 lead and lost 10-7 to the Wildcats on Saturday. But Deifel said her team came up with the appropriate answer.

“I do think last night burned,” Deifel said. “It stung pretty bad and I think that everyone was pretty bought in to making sure it didn’t happen again.

"We talked about it. Great teams have off days. Great teams lose games, but the best teams have a response, and they’ve had a great response all year. We challenged them to respond again and they showed up today.”

That was evident from the start.

Taylor Ellsworth lined her 12th home run of the season, a solo shot, to left-center field in the bottom of the first inning and the Razorbacks were off and running. Arkansas scored in every inning but one, which was more than enough for Delce, who just four hits over six innings.

She struck out five and walked one.

Delce (11-2) finished the weekend allowing one run over 13 innings after picking up the 2-1 win Friday. She did it while not feeling her best Sunday, Deifel said.

“I thought Chenise set a great tone in the circle,” Deifel said. “She’s been under the weather … and for her to have an outing like that, it was just all guts and heart. I thought our defense played really well behind her and our offense put pressure from the first inning on.”

The Arkansas offense gave her plenty of support as Sides hit a pair of solo blasts and Linnie Malkin added her 14th — a three-run shot — to give the Razorbacks a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

First baseman Danielle Gibson finished with a game-high three hits and ended the game early with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

Gibson said the team remained confident despite Saturday’s tough loss.

“I just felt like the whole game, no matter what they threw at us we were going to be OK,” Gibson said. “I just felt like we had our thumb on them. They couldn’t really take a breath.”

Tatum Spangler, who picked up the win in the circle on Saturday, accounted for two of Kentucky’s four hits Sunday. Kentucky dropped to 29-11 overall and 9-6 in the league.

Arkansas claimed its fifth straight SEC series victory and edged back in front of Alabama (13-5) in the league standings by percentage points. The Razorbacks hit the road next weekend to take on No. 9 Florida (34-9, 11-7).

The opening game of the three-game series is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.