Softball heads to Central Arkansas
3/22/2018 8:53:00 PM | Softball
Games 22-24
March 23-24 • Conway, Ark. • Farris Field Sam Houston State (11-18, 4-2 Southland) at Central Arkansas (13-13, 4-2 Southland)
Game 1: March 23 • 5:00 pm • Live Stats • @BearkatsSB on Twitter
Game 2: March 23 • 7:00 pm • Live Stats • @BearkatsSB on Twitter
Game 3: March 24 • 1:00 pm • Live Stats • @BearkatsSB on Twitter
HUNTSVILLE – With a pair of league weekends under their belts, the Sam Houston State Bearkats will hit the road for a three-game series at Central Arkansas, starting with a doubleheader at Farris Field on Friday afternoon.
Sam Houston started off with wins in each of its first four Southland Conference games before falling in both ends of a Saturday doubleheader to McNeese to enter the third weekend of league play as one of three teams at 4-2, just two games back of 6-0 Nicholls.
Most recently Sam dropped two to Houston on Tuesday in a doubleheader that finished in a 13-11 win for the Cougars in 10 innings in Game 2. Still, the Kats go into Conway with wins in four of their first six conference games for the first time since 2012, a year that was also the last time Sam Houston traveled to UCA for a league series.
The teams missed each other on the league schedule from 2014-16 before the Sugar Bears came to Huntsville in 2017, a series which saw the Bearkats take the opening two games before falling in the finale. Sam Houston and UCA would square off once again in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament on the Bears' home field where the Kats would win in 3-2 on a walk-off RBI single.
UCA has also started off at 4-2 in Southland play, although with very different results in their first two weekends. They sent shockwaves around the league by opening up Southland play with a sweep at home of McNeese, handing the Cowgirls their first three-game sweep by an SLC team since 2011. But last weekend they traveled to UIW and dropped two of three, only taking the middle game of the series.
Libby Morris paces the UCA offense with a .371 average that ranks fourth in the Southland, while also ranking sixth with a .643 slugging percentage that is bolstered by seven doubles and four home runs. Meanwhile, Rio Sanchez has fronted their pitching staff, ranking second among league arms with a 2.22 ERA.
For the Bearkats, Codi Carpenter has swung a big bat of late, homering three times in her last eight games while hitting safely in eight of her last 10. Her 14 RBI are tops on the team while Megan McDonald continues to pace the team with a .317 average.
