Central Arkansas' softball team is headed to its first NCAA Tournament.
UCA scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, pitcher Kylee Studioso settled down after a rough start, and the Bears hung on to beat Northwestern (La.) State 4-2 on Friday in the Southland Conference Tournament final at Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches, La.
The victory gave UCA (35-19), which entered as the No. 3 seed, its first tournament title and its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. UCA will learn its opponent and site at 9 p.m. Sunday.
UCA Coach David Kuhn, the school's winningest coach with 209 victories, said his team was focused during the week in Louisiana.
"I was a bit worried when were down, but we answered with a bang, which was huge because it took the pressure off of us," Kuhn said.
The Bears had to rally after falling into an hole early. Studioso walked the first four batters she faced and gave up a sacrifice fly that let the No. 1 seed Lady Demons (36-18) take a 2-0 lead.
But Sam Forrest had an RBI double, Briana Whisenhunt followed with an RBI single and Sarah Bigej drove in another run with a single to give UCA a 3-2 lead. Amy Gunnells extended UCA's lead with a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-2.
Kayla Gomness (4-1) earned the victory in relief, limiting the Lady Demons to 5 hits over 5 innings while striking out 1.
"That's been my job all season," Gomness said. "My defense played behind me like they always do, so it was a great game.
"It feels amazing, because this is a great group of girls and we always pull for each other."
Kuhn praised his pitching staff, led by Studioso.
"All year long we've had a great pitching staff," Kuhn said. "Kylee's thrown most of the innings, but Kayla and Shivaun Landeros have done a great job for us. Kayla's been phenomenal in all of her appearances this year, with great speed and great control, and she's developed so much."
Studioso, a senior from Edmonds, Wash., was named tournament Most Valuable Player after allowing only 2 earned runs and striking out 20 batters in 29 innings pitched. UCA's Sarah Bigej, Sam Forrest, Jessie Taylor and Brianna Whisenhunt were named to the all-tournament team.
Northwestern (La.) State;200 000 0 -- 2 6 2
Central Arkansas;300 010 x -- 4 6 2
Brown, Bouvier (1st) and Proctor; Studioso, Gomness (3rd) and Taylor. W -- Gomness (4-1). L -- Brown (13-4).
Sports on 05/09/2015