Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UA clinches share of SEC title
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas softball team added another chapter to its strong 2022 season Sunday in front of 2,266 fans at Bogle Park.
The seventh-ranked Razorbacks defeated South Carolina 8-0 in five innings to sweep the series and clinch at least a share of the SEC softball championship for the second consecutive year. Arkansas can win the title outright with at least one win at Texas A&M in its final league series beginning Friday.
“It’s huge,” Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. “It seems like the perfect way to celebrate Senior Day, honestly, with this group and what they’ve done for this program. It’s just a really really special day. It’s a hard thing to do in this conference, and to do it back-toback is a huge statement to where this program is and where they’ve taken us.”
Deifel said the feat is a testament to the belief the team’s seniors had from Day One.
“They believed in the ability to do this before there was even a glimmer of the ability to do it,” she said. “In my head I always think They believed in this before it was cool to believe in this.
“I think that we all have a ton of confidence in one another, and they’ve been able to answer any challenge we throw at them. Even today, they knew what was on the line.”
Arkansas controlled the game from start to finish. Taylor Ellsworth mashed a home run in the first inning to put Arkansas ahead 2-0. It was all the run support senior pitcher Mary Haff would need.
Haff, the program’s all-time leader in career wins, pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing 3 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. Deifel elected to pull Haff for the final out so the home crowd could give her a standing ovation. Chenise Delce finished off South Carolina with a ground out.
“It was incredible,” Haff said of the gesture. “Me and Coach Deifel have been through a lot, and it’s just incredible to see all the fans and know they have been there from the first pitch of my freshman year, and to get that standing ovation just absolutely encapsulated my entire career. It was great.”
“She deserved that moment, she had earned that moment, and it was really awesome to be in that position to give her that moment,” Deifel said.
“She’s been such an instrumental hand in building this and putting us where we are, and so to give her that moment and for the fans to embrace her and just feel that love. She was huge in building that. When she first got here, the stands didn’t look like this and so for her to have that moment was really special.”
In the fourth inning, Arkansas scored five runs off five hits. Hannah McEwen brought home two runs with a triple during the offensive flurry, and Ellsworth hit her second two-run homer of the day in the next at-bat.
“I was like, ‘I hit it too hard, it’s going to hit the fence,’ ” Ellsworth said. “I knew I hit it super hard, but I didn’t know it was going out. It was really cool. All of it was extra special today.”
Deifel said Ellsworth’s impact has been felt on the team all season long.
“Her performance has been so huge for us all year,” Deifel said. “She’s just been a huge addition, not just on the field, but who she is as a person. It was great for her to have that moment today.”
The Razorbacks have won seven consecutive SEC games and eight straight overall since a home loss to Kentucky on April 16. They remain the only SEC team to not lose a league series this season.
Deifel said she thinks her team’s best play is still to come.
“This team is still climbing,” she said. “I really truly believe our best softball is still ahead of us, and we are playing our best right now. They sure are fun to watch.”