Arkansas blanks OSU 12-0 to advance to Super Regional clash with SEC foe Ole Miss

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas made an emphatic rain-delayed statement on Sunday night about which of the four NCAA Softball Tournament Fayetteville Regional teams was the best.

The top-seeded Razorbacks poured it on late with a six-run, sixth inning and Robyn Herron twirled a gem to blank second-seeded Oklahoma State University 12-0 in the regional championship final at Bogle Park.

“There is just something so special about this team,” Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel said. “They sit together in that (four-hour) rain delay and they came out with an energy that I haven’t seen. This team is special. This team is built different and they had their minds made up and were relentless with it.”

The win moved host and No. 4 national seed Arkansas (43-12) into a Super Regional best two-of-three matchup with Ole Miss (40-18) that will begin this either Thursday or Friday.

The second-seeded Rebels, who took two of three from the Razorbacks in Oxford on the first SEC weekend, downed host and top-seeded Arizona 7-3 Sunday night to win the Tucson Regional.

Karlee Davison’s three-run blast capped the sixth-inning explosion in a game where Arkansas outhit Oklahoma State 14-3 and beat the Cowboys for the second time in two days.

Atalyia Rijo was 8-for-8 in the two wins, the second of which came after two rain stoppages before the game could get underway.

“Atalyia Rijo was exceptional all weekend,” Deifel said. “Karlie Davison today. That is what is so special about this team – it is someone different every day and they just have such a strong belief in everybody and it allows them to play so freely. That was big-time.”

The bottom three in Arkansas’ batting order went 7 for 11 in the game while driving in 8 runs.

“That’s what’s so special about this team, is it’s someone different every day,” Deifel said. “Atalyia Rijo didn’t get out the last two days. Like, what? That’s so hard to do. She was driving the ball, she had a bomb, she went opposite field for a single. She was just so locked in. This team is so complete. This offense is so complete.”

The Razorbacks wasted little time jumping ahead 3-0 in the top of the first against Oklahoma State ace Ruby Meylan (21-10).

The first run came via replay review after Raigan Kramer was called out at the plate, but a Deifel challenge overturned the call.

“It’s huge,” Herron said. “I mean, when you’re ahead, it kind of fuels you to just go after batters and to be really confident. I think that was definitely a good start to the game, and it just helped me settle in and maybe eased some nerves.”

Deifel echoed those same sentiments about a game against an OSU team that has been to five of the last six Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

“You could feel the momentum,” Deifel said. “I don’t think it would have deterred us if it didn’t go our way. This team was just vibing in a different way tonight. But it’s always great when it does go your way early, and you get one on the board and you’re passing the bat to the next. I think it was a huge moment.”

That six-inning outburst came right after a bottom of the fifth in which Oklahoma State (35-20) loaded the bases, but Herron got out of it unscathed when second baseman Davison made a spectacular catch in short right-center field.

“It was just a reaction,” Davison said. “(Arkansas center fielder). Reagan Johnson catches everything out there, and so when I didn’t hear call the ball, I was just like, ‘OK, time to go get it.’ It was a big play. I’m glad I got to show up for Robyn, who had been just really lights out the whole game.”

Herron (18-6) allowed just three hits, fanned two and issued just one free pass while hurling her 11th complete game of the year.

“She’s a fighter,” Deifel said. “She lit up when I told her she was getting the ball. And I said, ‘How do you feel about that?’ And she’s like, ‘I’m excited. Let’s go.’ I just think that this team turned a page from yesterday to today. I think they grew up a little bit from yesterday to today. I think individually and collectively, they did that, and she did, too.”

Arkansas rallied from a 5-1 fifth-inning deficit on Saturday afternoon to down Oklahoma State 6-5 in eight innings.

“They are so intentional with everything they did,” Deifel said. “They have such a strong belief in themselves and each other and that was evident from the first pitch and how we walked out on the field today.

“This team, that is what they did all year. I am just so proud of them.”

Photo by John D. James