Conway, Ark - Senior left fielder Alex Survant, attempting to lead Sam Houston to a berth in the 2011 Southland softball tournament, went 6-for-8 at the plate with three runs batted in as the Bearkats split a doubleheader with Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon.
The UCA Bears (25-30, 11-18) won the first game 6-5 but the Kats came back to take the nightcap 4-0. Sam Houston (22-31, 14-14) will host the post-season tournament Thursday through Saturday in Huntsville. For the Kats to earn one of the six spots in the event, they must win one more game than Northwestern State does in the Demons' three-game series with Texas State.
Northwestern State split with Texas State Saturday, the Bobcats winning the first game 1-0 and the Demons taking the nightcap 1-0. That keeps Northwestern State one-half game in front of the Kats. In order to Sam Houston to earn the tournament berth, the Bearkats must win Sunday and the Demons must lose.
Courtney Schoenemann produced a clutch performance in the pitching circle in the second game, producing her first college shutout and holding the Bears to only two hits. Schoenemann (3-8) struck out three batters and walked only one.
Survant's double in the fifth inning put Sam Houston on the board, scoring second baseman Alyssa Coggins and third baseman Shelbi Tucker who singled and doubled, respectively, to get on base.
The Bearkats added two more runs in the sixth inning on RBI singles by centerfielder Tori Benavidez and Coggins.
In the first game, Sam Houston tied the score in the top of the final inning, but saw a chance at victory slip away with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh in the 6-5 loss.
UCA first baseman Shay Riston went 3-for-4 at the plate including the game-winning RBI.
The Bearkats took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI double by Benavidez and a run-scoring single up the middle by Survant.
Central Arkansas racked up five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. But the Kats kept fighting scoring two runs in the sixth and tying the game in the seventh inning.
Tucker blasted a two-run homer to left center to make the score 5-4. First baseman Kim Damian doubled to score Survant who had singled to knot the game at 5-5 in the top of the seventh.
Shelby Lancaster, Cecilia Castillo and Courtney Schoeneman shared pitching duties. Lancaster started with Castillo entering in the fourth inning and Schoeneman in the seventh.
Game times for the Southland tournament on Thursday and Friday are 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. On the tournament's final day, game nine will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the championship finals starting at 2 p.m.
Tickets for the Southland Conference Southland Tournament are available on line at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston ticket office in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.
