Leinstock pitches Razorbacks by No. 11 Tigers
FAYETTEVILLE — Morgan Leinstock pitched her fifth complete game of the season and two home runs powered the No. 19 Arkansas softball team to a 5-2 victory over No. 11 Missouri in the series opener Friday at Bogle Park.
It was the second consecutive victory over a ranked team for the Razorbacks (279, 6-4 SEC), who won 8-2 at then-No. 3 Georgia on Monday to clinch that series.
Bri Ellis and Rylin Hedgecock each homered and Hannah Gammill hit a two-run single to power Arkansas’ offense. Seven Razorbacks had a hit, led by Hedgecock, who was 2 for 2.
Five runs were enough insurance for Leinstock, who won her eighth game.
Leinstock, a transfer from Southern Miss, limited the Tigers to 5 hits and struck out 7 of 29 batters faced. The righthander carried a shutout into the final inning, but Missouri (29-9, 4-6) spoiled it with a two-run homer by Abby Hay.
“[Leinstock] trusted her stuff,” Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. “She dealt her defense, and that’s what Morgan’s done all year.”
Missouri, which entered the game at No. 8 in the NCAA’s RPI, lost its second game in a row. The Tigers were defeated 1-0 by Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday.
Ellis put the Razorbacks ahead 2-0 in the first inning Friday when she hit a tworun home run over the wall in center field. It was the Auburn transfer’s 13th home run, which ranks third in the SEC. It scored Raigan Kramer, who had singled in the prior at-bat.
“I think it’s setting a tone [with a quick top of the first inning] and coming back to the bottom half of the inning and putting runs on the board right away,” Deifel said. “It’s absolutely a tone-setter for sure.”
Two-out hitting by Gammill put the Razorbacks ahead 4-0 in the third inning. With runners on second and third, Gammill blooped a single between three Tigers in shallow left-center field to double the lead.
To lead off the fourth inning, Hedgecock hit a solo home run to push Arkansas’ advantage to 5-0.
Her fourth homer of the season was a no-doubter as the ball landed landed short of the parking lot past left field. Hedgecock said it was “probably the hardest-hit ball I’ve hit in a while.”
The senior had been hitless since a March 18 victory at Texas A&M-Commerce, but she said she had been intentional with staying the course with her preparation.
“I haven’t been doing the best the last couple of weeks, but I feel like I’ve been grinding through it,” Hedgecock said. “It just really paid off today.”
Deifel added, “We believe in her, and we just grind with her. If she wants to work, we’re going to work with her. … She’s obviously a tremendous player. She’s a game-changing offensive player.”
The Tigers threatened in the seventh inning. After Hay’s home run pulled Missouri within 5-2, a hit batter and a single brought Tigers star center fielder Alex Honnold to the plate with two outs.
Honnold, who entered the game with a team-best .377 average, flied out to left field to end the game.
“She’s done that so well all year of being in tough situations and being able to work through them,” Deifel said of Leinstock. “[She’s good at] just trusting her stuff and knowing what gets her in the mindset to get back on track, which is really big. And we have trust in her to get through that.
“That’s the thing: It’s not how you draw it up. They get hit-by-pitch [and then] a little chopper off the glove and now all of a sudden you’re digging in on Honnold in a three-run game. It’s not how you draw it up at all. … She [Leinstock] worked herself into that and she worked herself out.”