State sports briefs

Three home runs not enough for UALR

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock hit three home runs Saturday, but the Trojans couldn’t overcome an early four-run lead by Coastal Carolina, falling 6-4 in Conway, S.C.

James Gann hit two home runs for the Trojans (26-22, 14-11 Sun Belt), finishing 3 for 4. Ryan Benavidez reached base three times with a home run, walk and hit by pitch.

UALR’s 1-0 lead was short-lived as the Chanticleers (35-16, 20-6) answered with a two-run home run from Kevin Woodall Jr. in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.

UALR rallied for runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings after falling behind 5-1, then got the tying run on base in the ninth inning before falling short.

Southeastern Louisiana rallies past UCA

Southeastern Louisiana rallied for five runs in the final four innings and hit four home runs on the day to defeat the University of Central Arkansas 10-6 on Saturday in Conway.

Hunter Strong hit a two-run home run to right field in the fifth inning and a solo shot to right center in the seventh to lead the Bears (31-19, 17-9).

UCA finished with 13 hits, led by Tyler Smith, who went 3 for 5. Coby Potvin, Strong, Colby LeBlanc and William Hancock had two hits each.

SOFTBALL

Taylor pitches SAU to regional title

Victoria Taylor struck out nine in a complete-game effort to lead Southern Arkansas University to a 4-3 victory over Minnesota State-Mankato in the NCAA Central Region 2 championship in Magnolia.

Taylor improved to 30-0 as the Lady Muleriders (55-9) earned a Super Regional berth.

In the bottom of the third inning, Mankato took the lead 2-1 on a two-run triple to right field.

With SAU down 2-1 going into the fifth, Faith Otts laced a double into the right-center field gap to score a pair of runs.

Rachel Miller’s bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning added to SAU’s lead.

Arkansas Tech falls in regional final

Paty Loredo went 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI, but Arkansas Tech University lost 7-4 to Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday in the NCAA Central Region 1 championship in Winona, Minn.

Arkansas Tech ends it season with a 42-14 record.

GOLF

Arkansas reclaims Governors Cup

Team Arkansas lost 11 of 20 singles matches Saturday, but thanks to a 15-5 opening day Friday it won the 13th annual Governors Cup over Team Mississippi at Beau Pre Country Club in Natchez, Miss.

Arkansas jumped out to an 8.5-1.5 lead after Friday morning’s four-ball matches. It extended the lead to 15-5 after the afternoon foursome matches before wrapping up the championship Saturday afternoon.

Singles winners Saturday from Arkansas were Louis Lee, John Tetens, Keith Browning, Gordy McKeown, Stafford Gray, Brent Winston, Wes McNulty and Kyle Thompson. Bucky Graham and Matt Wilmott split their matches against their Mississippi opponents to earn a half point each for Arkansas.

Arkansas last won the Governors Cup in 2015 at Hot Springs Country Club. It leads the series 7-6.