Razorbacks Run-Rule UCA, 11-2 in Six Innings

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind a pair of solo home runs from sophomore INF Ella McDowell, the No. 9/10 Arkansas Razorbacks registered their 19th run-rule win of the season by dispatching Central Arkansas, 11-2, in six innings on Tuesday evening at Natalie Shock Stadium at Farris Field.

McDowell had a 2-4 night, which featured solo home runs in both the third and sixth innings. Dakota Kennedy also homered, smashing a two-run opposite-field blast in the top of the fourth inning. Kennedy had a 2-2 day that also included a double and a pair of walks. Tianna Bell (3-4, R, RBI, 2B) and Atalyia Rijo (3-4, 3 RBI, 2 2B, R) also recorded three hits in the victory.

Saylor Timmerman improved to 6-0 after striking out three batters and allowing two runs on five hits and a walk in four innings of work. Payton Burnham tossed two innings of scoreless relief while allowing just one hit and no walks.

Jessica Walter took the loss for the Huskies, surrendering six runs on four hits and four walks while striking out one in 2.1 innings. Bailie Runner took the loss for UCA, falling to 8-4 on the season after allowing five runs on six hits and three walks while picking up a strikeout.

With the victory, Arkansas improved to 28-4 overall this season while UCA moved to 21-13. The Razorbacks 19 run-rule victories this season are the second-most in a single season all-time, trailing only the 2025 team’s 23.

How it Happened

Saylor Timmerman made her seventh start of the season for Arkansas, while Central Arkansas went with its ace right-hander Bailie Runner.

Brinli Bain drew a one-out walk in the top of the first to become the first baserunner of the game for Arkansas. Dakota Kennedy later doubled with two outs to put runners on second and third, but Runner and UCA escaped with a groundout.

The Bears’ Rennee Christian led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single before advancing to second on a wild pitch and taking third on a flyout. She later scored on an RBI fielder’s choice from Trinity Brandon. Emma Robertson then doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third with just one out, but Timmerman limited the damage by inducing a lineout and groundout to third base.

Atalyia Rijo laced a double down the right-field line with one out in the second inning. Kennedy Miller then doubled down the third-base line to score Rijo from second base and make it a 1-1 ballgame. Miller later moved to third base on a groundout with two outs in the frame before Runner ended the frame with a groundout.

Timmerman retired Central Arkansas in order in the bottom of the second, courtesy of a strikeout, popout, and a diving snag on a ground ball at first by Tianna Bell.

Ella McDowell gave Arkansas a 2-1 lead with a towering solo home run to left field with one out in the top of the third inning. Dakota Kennedy walked, and Bell also added a single in the frame following McDowell’s ninth round-tripper of the season.

Timmerman only yielded a walk in the bottom of the third inning while picking up her second strikeout of the night.

Arkansas exploded for five runs in the top of the fourth inning. Kennedy Miller reached on an error to lead off the inning before Reagan Johnson walked with one out in the frame. Both would come around to score on a two-run double from Bain, increasing the Arkansas lead to 4-1. Dakota Kennedy extended the Hogs’ lead to 6-1 with a solo blast to left field with two outs before Arkansas added its fifth and final run of the inning on an RBI single from Atalyia Rijo.

Central Arkansas got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning, courtesy of a two-out single up the middle from Lilly Hood, cutting the Hogs’ lead to 7-2.

Both teams were kept off the scoreboard in the fifth. Payton Burnham spun a scoreless bottom of the fifth inning, highlighted by a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play to strand the Bears’ Addie Graham, who reached on a one-out triple to third base.

The Razorbacks continued to tack on runs with a four-spot in the top of the sixth inning. McDowell blasted her second homer of the game with a leadoff shot to left field. Dakota Kennedy then walked and came around to score on a double from Bell. Following a single from Wyckoff, Atalyia Rijo drove in the final two runs of the contest with a double to left field, making it the final, 11-2.

Burnham completed the Razorbacks’ 19th run-rule victory of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning that featured three groundouts.

NOTABLES

• Ella McDowell registered her first career multi-homer game with solo shots in the third and sixth innings.
• Arkansas is 302-9 when scoring eight or more runs all-time, including a 170-1 mark during the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present). The Razorbacks are on a 114-game winning streak when scoring 8+ runs. The last loss the Razorbacks had when accomplishing the feat was a 12-11 loss to Oklahoma State on Feb. 11, 2021, during the season opener at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, La.
• The Hogs now lead the all-time series with UCA, 9-2.
• Arkansas is 62-8 all-time when a Razorback player hits multiple home runs in a single game, including a 47-3 mark in the Courtney Deifel era.

Up Next

The Razorbacks resume SEC play by hosting No. 3/5 Florida for a three-game series this weekend (Friday-Sunday) at Bogle Park.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.