Hogs Improve to 5-0 with wins over Bradley and San Diego to Conclude Texas State Tournament
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The No. 13/14 Arkansas Razorbacks improved to 5-0 by way of a 9-1 run-rule win over Bradley (6 inn.) and a resilient 2-1 victory over San Diego that featured a walk-off RBI single by Bri Ellis to conclude the final day of play at the Texas State Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
The 5-0 start is the Razorbacks’ fifth in program history and third under head coach Courtney Deifel.
Courtney Day led the Razorbacks by going 2-4 with a pair of two-run home runs in the six-inning triumph over Bradley. Ellis went 2-3 and added a two-run blast for the 51st home run of her career in the top of the sixth inning. Reagan Johnson also registered multiple hits with a pair of singles.
Arkansas entered the top of the sixth inning with a 4-1 lead before exploding for five runs in the frame courtesy of Day’s second two-run blast of the game in addition to Ellis’ round-tripper and an Ella McDowell RBI groundout.
Robyn Herron started in the victory over Bradley, striking out four and allowing one run on a hit and two walks during her three innings of work. Lexi King (1-0) followed Herron and pitched two shutout innings while yielding two hits on the way to the first win of her collegiate career. Reis Beuerlein retired the side and struck out two in the sixth to close out the victory.
In game two against San Diego, Arkansas entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 1-0. Raigan Kramer led off the inning with a single to left field and advanced to second on a textbook sacrifice bunt from Rylee Cloud. Spencer Prigge stepped to the plate and worked a full count before drawing a walk to put runners on first and second with just one out. Atalyia Rijo entered as a pinch runner in Prigge’s place after the free pass.
With two outs and down to her last strike, Kailey Wyckoff singled up the middle on the ninth pitch of her at-bat to score Kramer and tie the game 1-1. One batter later, McDowell reached on an error by San Diego second baseman Alyssa Hernandez, which loaded the bases for Ellis, who stepped to the plate and drove a pitch to deep right-center field for a walk-off RBI single to complete the exhilarating come-from-behind win.
Freshman Payton Burnham improved to 2-0 on the season in the win over the Toreros while striking out two and retiring all six batters she faced in a relief effort. Fellow freshman Cam Harrison was impressive in her inaugural collegiate start, striking out eight and allowing just one run on two hits and a walk during her five innings pitched.
GAME ONE
Herron made her second start of the season against Bradley while the Braves went with right-hander Sydney Kennedy.
Arkansas loaded the bases in the first inning courtesy of an Ella McDowell single between walks from Kailey Wyckoff and Bri Ellis. Kramer then drew a bases-loaded walk to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
Herron faced the minimum in the first and second innings.
Day gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead with a towering two-run home run to left field with two outs in the top of the third. Prigge followed with her second walk of the contest before coming around to score on an RBI double from Karlie Davison, extending the lead to 4-0.
Lexi King entered to pitch the fourth inning and yielded just two hits while spinning two shutout innings. Bradley added a run in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of an RBI single from Kierston McCoy.
Arkansas exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning courtesy of McDowell driving in a run with a groundout and a pair of two-run home runs from Ellis and Day to make it the final 9-1. The homer was Day’s second of the game and marked the fourth multi-homer game of her career.
Reis Beuerlein closed out the victory with a perfect seventh inning that featured a pair of strikeouts in relief of King.
King earned her first collegiate win, throwing two shutout innings out of the bullpen while allowing just two hits. King was credited with the victory as the starting pitcher must pitch at least four innings in a game of six or more innings.
Kennedy fell to 0-2 after surrendering eight hits and seven walks while allowing seven earned runs in the loss for Bradley.
GAME TWO
Arkansas was the home team in the final game of the day against San Diego.
Cam Harrison got the ball for Razorbacks, while the Toreros went with right-hander Emma Giaime. Harrison promptly retired the first nine batters of the game, six of which came courtesy of strikeouts.
Ava Carter’s second-inning single to first base was the only hit by either team in the first three innings of play while Harrison struck out the side in the bottom half of the third inning.
San Diego took a 1-0 lead on an RBI triple to the right-center field gap from Alyssa Hernandez with two outs in the top of the fifth.
Harrison exited the game after the fifth inning, finishing her day with eight strikeouts while allowing just one earned run on two hits and a walk during her five innings in the circle.
In the bottom of the fifth, Harrison led off with a walk before being pinch ran for by Karlie Daviosn, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Atalyia Rijo before making her way to third on a groundout. With two outs, Wyckoff hit a hard ground ball up the middle, but Giamme snagged it and threw to first for the final out of the inning.
Burnham entered the circle for Harrison in the sixth and registered two perfect innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.
Trailing 1-0, Kramer led off the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single to left field. Rylee Cloud then moved her to second by way of a sacrifice bunt.
Prigge followed with a pinch-hit walk to put runners on first and second. Atalyia Rijo then entered as a pinch runner for Prigge. With two outs, Wyckoff capped a nine-pitch at-bat and tied the game with an RBI single up the middle that scored Kramer from second base and advanced Rijo to second.
With two outs, McDowell reached on an error by Hernandez at second base to load the bases. San Diego then went to the bullpen and brought in Kelsey Tadlock. Following the pitching change Bri Ellis stepped to the plate and crushed a walk-off single to right-center field that scored Rijo from third and gave the Hogs a 2-1 victory.
Burnham earned her second win of the season for Arkansas to improve to 2-0 while Giaime took the loss for San Diego.
QUOTABLES
Arkansas Head Coach Courtney Deifel
On the day…
“I liked the continuous fight of our team today. Times like today when things are not going your way, and you are not firing a lot of times you can fold and just to see us fight until the end and put together great at-bats was huge. We got off to a slow start, but we hit our stride. We did not get any breaks during that last game. I am just proud of them to unify to get these two wins and proud of our pitching for giving us a chance.
On Courtney Day’s offensive performance against Bradley…
“She was great all weekend. I think we will see her get better every day from just getting back into it. Obviously, she is an explosive hitter but she is just going to continue to get better and better.”
NOTABLES
- Arkansas has a 5-0 start for the fifth time in program history. The Razorbacks previously accomplished the feat in 2013, 2017, 2019, 2023
- Kailey Wyckoff extended her reached-base streak to eight games, dating back to her time at Texas Tech.
- Raigan Kramer moved into 10th all-time in the Arkansas record books with her 72nd career walk.
- Bri Ellis’ 51 career home runs are the most nationally among all active DI players. She is the third Razorback player to reach 50+ career home runs during their college career, joining Linnie Malkin (50, and Danielle Gibson-Whorton (60). Malkin is the only player in program history to hit all 50+ home runs as a Razorback, as Ellis started her collegiate career at Auburn and Gibson-Whorton began her career at Arizona State.
- The Razorbacks are 120-41 in daytime contests since 2021.
- With a pair of wins, it marked the 295th time that the Razorbacks’ pitching staff has not allowed a home run in a game under head coach Courtney Deifel (2016-present). Arkansas is 230-65 when accomplishing the feat.
- Arkansas is now 139-21 when hitting two or more home runs as a team under Deifel.
- Cam Harrison became the 11th freshman pitcher to register 8+ strikeouts in a game at Arkansas since 2003.
- Courtney Day registered her fourth career multi-home run game.
UP NEXT
The Razorbacks will be back in action next Friday when they travel to Ruston, La., for a 6 p.m., showdown with Louisiana Tech in the opening game of the LA Tech classic. The Bulldogs are 2-3 this season with a win over No. 4 Oklahoma State at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.
