UA hosts strong field for Wooo Pig Classic

FAYETTEVILLE — For the second weekend in a row, Bogle Park will be the host site of a multi-team invitational.

Following a Razorback Invitational which saw the University of Arkansas softball team go 4-1, including two wins against then-13th-ranked Arizona, Courtney Deifel’s squad returns to action today in the Wooo Pig Classic.

Sixth- ranked Arkansas (13-3) opens the tournament against Iowa State (6-7) at 2 p.m.

The five-team field also includes North Texas (10-4) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (8-6).

“They’re very strong opponents,” Deifel said. “Iowa State is very, very tough. North Texas has had a really great run and played a tough schedule thus far. Corpus Christi has had a good year and been really close with the ones that they’ve dropped. … So it’ll be a good weekend [and] it’ll be a good challenge.”

Reflecting on the Razorback Invitational, Deifel said her team was placed in a postseason-like situation and handled it well.

“I really liked that we figured out how to win the series, per se, with Arizona,” she said. “I think it [had] an SEC feel to it. I think it had a super regional feel to it. Kind of staying the course and finding a way to win two out of three when I don’t necessarily feel like we were playing all that well.”

A big part of the Razorbacks’ success finding a way to win three different one-run games was a spectacular individual effort.

Arkansas senior pitcher Chenise Delce had a dominant performance in the Razorback Invitational, which resulted in SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honors.

Delce finished with 25 strikeouts and 2 runs surrendered over 18 1/3 innings. She earned four of Arkansas’ five wins.

“I don’t know how to else to explain it but just trusting,” Delce said of her mentality. “I’m trying not to take things, I don’t want to say too seriously, but I don’t want to overwhelm myself. I know as a pitcher a lot of your teammates feed off of your energy. So I’m just trying to stay calm and not overwhelm my teammates either. Just trusting myself, trusting God, trusting my coaches, trusting my teammates, keeping calm and just keeping the energy good.”

Arkansas and Iowa State have one common opponent this season, both playing multiple games against Drake. The Cyclones lost both games against Drake, while Arkansas swept the Bulldogs last weekend 3-0.

However, the Razorbacks’ first win against Drake took a resilient comeback effort. Arkansas tied it with two outs in the seventh inning then took a 4-3 victory via a walk-off run in the 11th inning.

“I don’t think that as a whole this weekend we were firing on all cylinders.” Deifel said. “And so finding a way to win five of the six was huge. Being down to our last out in the Drake game when things clearly weren’t going our way and pulling through to tie it and give us more time to win it, I think was a lot of character. … I like our fight.”