(April 22, 2021) Mena, Arkansas – Coming off a split on Monday at NOC-Tonkawa, the Bucks hosted DII region foe, Carl Albert State College, on Thursday afternoon at Cummings-Cecil Field.
Game 1
Hannah Hunter (Malvern, AR) got the start in the circle for the Bucks. In the top of the 1st, the Lady Vikings plated a run to take an early lead. In the bottom half, Maggie Lilly (Mt. Pleasant, TX) reached on a 1 out walk. Next at-bat, Madelynn Lacaze (Union Grove, TX) would hit a 2-run bomb over the left field bullpen to give the Bucks the lead after an inning.
After a scoreless 2nd & 3rd innings, Hunter would give up a 2-run homer before walking the next 2 hitters before Brooke Detommaso (Las Vegas, NV) came on in relief. She recorded an out before a single plated 2 runs. The Bucks would get a double play to end the top half. The Bucks would get 2 of those runs back. After a 1 out walk, Ashton Daniel (Rockwall, TX) doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Avery Cotten (Longview, TX) hit a sac fly to score Mackenzie Person (Bonham, TX). Next at-bat, Maggie Lilly singled to score Daniel from second base. The Bucks trailed 6-4 after 4 innings.
In the 5th, the Lady Vikings scored a run to increase their lead. The Bucks went scoreless in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings. After holding the Lady Vikings scoreless in the 7th, Avery Cotten reached on an Vikings error. Maggie Lilly continued to stay hot with an RBI double to score Cotten from first base. Lilly advanced to third base on a ground out. With 2 outs, Kristen McMillan (Winnsboro, TX) singled to right field to score Lilly, but a fly out ended the game. Bucks fall 7-6.
In the loss, Hannah Hunter (3-10) pitched 3 innings and gave up 6 runs on 3 hits, but she would walk 5 hitters. In relief, Brooke Detommaso pitched 4 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits. She would strikeout a lone hitter.
Game 2
Getting her first start of the season in the circle, Mackenzie Person put down Carl Albert in order to begin the game. In the bottom half, Maggie Lilly singled with 2 outs. Next at-bat, Maddi Miles (Jonesboro, AR) doubled to centerfield to score Lilly from first to make it 1-0 after an inning.
In the 2nd, Person gave up 5 runs, including a 3-run homer to the Lady Vikings. After the Bucks went scoreless, the Person was chased from the game after giving up a lead off double. Hannah Hunter entered the game and gave up a single and a walk to load the bases. After recording 2 outs, she would give up a hit-by-pitch and walk to score 2 Lady Vikings before recording a strikeout to end the top half. Lady Vikings lead 7-1 midway through 3 innings.
Coming into pitch to start the 4th inning, Autumn Powell (Mena, AR) pitched 4 straight scoreless innings to give Bucks a chance to rally in the bottom of the 7th inning. Kristen McMillan led off with a single before stealing second base in the next at-bat. With 2 outs, Sydney Smith (Siloam Springs, AR) hit a 2-run homer to left field. A strikeout ended the game. Bucks fall 7-3.
In the loss, Mackenzie Person (0-1) pitched 2 innings and gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, while striking out 1. In relief, Autumn Powell threw 4 innings of shutout ball, only giving up 2 hits with 1 strikeout.
The Bucks play again on Saturday at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma.
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