Robyn Herron pitched a two-hit shutout and the No. 11 Arkansas softball team defeated Central Arkansas 8-0 in six innings Tuesday night at Farris Field in Conway.
The Razorbacks (35-13, 13-8 SEC) snapped a two-game losing streak to the Bears and avenged a 4-0 loss in Conway a season ago. UCA (23-25, 14-7 ASUN) won both games against Arkansas in 2023.
Herron kept the Bears off-balance and struck out nine batters in her eighth complete-game performance. The left-hander from Tampa, Fla., threw 60 of her 87 pitches for strikes with 2 walks.
While Herron commanded the strike zone for Arkansas, it was an alternate story for UCA starter Julia Petty. The right-hander walked three Razorbacks and hit a batter during a four-run second inning for Arkansas.
After Kennedy Miller and Raigan Kramer walked to begin the second, Hannah Camenzind singled to load the bases. Lauren Camenzind drew a full-count walk for the game’s first run.
The lineup turned over to Reagan Johnson, who shot an RBI single to left field over a drawn-in infield. Bri Ellis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Cylie Halvorson hit an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Razorbacks a 4-0 lead.
The Razorbacks extended the lead to 6-0 in the second inning after an RBI single by Halvorson and a bases-loaded walk of Miller.
Miller gave Arkansas the runs it needed to enforce a run rule in the sixth inning when she hit a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field. The no-doubter was Miller’s seventh homer.
Petty threw 119 pitches over her 5 innings in the circle and gave up 9 hits and 7 walks. She struck out 2, hit 2 batsmen and stranded 10.
Nia Carter led Arkansas with a 3-for-4 hitting performance, followed by Johnson, who was 2-for-3 with 1 walk drawn. Miller led the Razorbacks with three runs driven in.
Arkansas is scheduled to begin its final regular-season series Friday when it hosts Ole Miss at 6 p.m.