FAYETTEVILLE — After four weekends and 21 games, the No. 16 Arkansas softball team still has some questions as the second month of the season begins.
The Razorbacks (17-4) had to rally from a 5-0 deficit on Sunday against a Southeast Missouri State team that has won just 4 games this season and went winless in the Wooo Pig Classic to stretch its losing streak to 9 straight games.
But as any coach will attest, any win is a good win, and Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel was happy to walk off the Bogle Park field Sunday with a win — even a 6-5 extra-inning one.
“We haven't had to dig ourselves out of a hole like that before, so just to see them scrape their way back in it just to get it back to where it was a tie game was huge,” Deifel said after Sunday's nail-biter. “It took a lot of guts to do that. ... It was a collective effort, it was not easy, it was not how we drew it up, but it's just nice to see them collectively find a way to get the win.”
Arkansas went 4-1 over the weekend at home, their second of three straight home tournaments in the middle of a 17-game homestand. In each of the four tournaments, the Razorbacks have had to overcome a loss, and they've answered the call all four times to prevent consecutive losses.
Bounce-back Sunday
After Saturday's 7-3 loss to South Dakota State, Deifel said she was hopeful her team would again be able to bounce back quickly, but Sunday's game against SEMO could not have started much worse for the Razorbacks.
Starting pitcher Nikki McGaffin had control issues, throwing just 4 strikes in her 16-pitch outing. Morgan Leinstock had better control, but SEMO jumped on her for 4 hits in one inning. That forced Deifel to go to Robyn Herron in relief, a move that saved the game for the Razorbacks.
“When you have one game in a day, it's just all hands on deck,” said Deifel. “Quite honestly we weren't wanting to go to [Herron] third. We were going to have [Hannah Camenzind] be ready, but with her being on the field [in left], it just didn't really allow us to put her in a position where we felt like she could be ready to go and to be fully warm.
"We went to [Herron], and she was outstanding on a weekend where I don't think she felt her best. The team just needed every pitch she gave us.”
Busy Herron
On Sunday, Herron was almost flawless, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing just 2 hits with 7 strikeouts. Two of the punchouts came in the eighth inning, keeping SEMO off the scoreboard and allowing the Razorbacks to walk it off with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.
Over the weekend, Herron went 2-1 in 17 innings, allowing 11 hits with 7 walks and 17 strikeouts.
Deifel said while Herron was locked in, she also benefitted from stellar defense behind her.
“Reagan Johnson was a huge difference-maker in the outfield today,” said Deifel. “The plays that she made to continue to keep it at zero so that we could get the last one in, I thought it was huge. It was a difference-maker for sure.”
Lineup moves
Deifel is still moving pieces around to find the best unit as Arkansas moves into its final weekend of non-conference play with this weekend's Razorback Rumble.
On Sunday, the batting order featured Hannah Camenzind in the No. 2 spot and catcher Kennedy Miller at clean-up. Bri Ellis moved to the 5-hole.
Defensively, Camenzind played right field and Spencer Prigge got the start at shortstop, where she went 1-for-2 at the plate but made an error in the field. Lauren Camenzind and Atalyia Rijo also started at shortstop over the weekend. Earlier in the season, Camenzind was used primarily as a pitcher, but her success at the plate has meant more time as a position player.
“It's nice to have the pieces to keep moving around to find the right combination,” said Deifel. “Next weekend is going to be really, really tough. The teams coming in are playing great right now. We have a week where we can get back to work and put us in a good mindset and get ready to attack the weekend with whoever we put out there.”
What's next
Arkansas will host Nebraska (8-10) at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Razorback Rumble. The Razorbacks will also take on South Alabama (12-5-1), St. Francis (11-8) and Northern Iowa (9-6) in the four-day tournament. All six games will be availabe to stream on SEC Network+.